


God Damn It, Kyuubi

by Demetria_0620



Series: ObiKaka&MadaTobi Trashcan [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: All that power and yet he still flail when it comes to emotions, Alpha Hatake Kakashi, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And has Team 7 yelling in his head, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But he is idiot, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Humor, I need help, I think by this point this story is a massive trope twist to the usual A/B/O trope, I think this might end up as parody for hyper-overpowered character, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm a slave for my characters, I'm going to make you suffer love-hate relationship with my villains, I'm not a doctor, Kakashi is overpowered as hell, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Omega Uchiha Obito, Omega Verse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Socially inadept idiot, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Warning that Kakashi might be a tad bit insane in here, Why Did I Write This?, sorry for inaccuracies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-09-05 18:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 129,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16816201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demetria_0620/pseuds/Demetria_0620
Summary: Team 7 becomes one. Literally.Kakashi didn't sign up for this shit.Guide to the A/B/O verse used in this fiction is here -->Lady Tria's Handbook of A/B/O Universe





	1. What the actual fuck, Kyuubi?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I have so many others fics to be updated and do not need another WIP, but my muse is evil and I have a stupid tendency to text him asking for prompts. So this happens. Un-betaed, because it is 3 in the morning and I have work tomorrow.
> 
> Enjoy! And drop a comment if you have time~!

In all honesty, Kakashi blamed Kyuubi.

(And probably Naruto. Also Sasuke. Let's not forget Sakura too while he was at it, but Kyuubi was definitely the main culprit.)

When his students attempted to seal Kaguya, the goddess naturally put up a self-defence, forming a frantic handsign to counter the three teenagers that were about to seal her godly ass into the moon.

Since Kakashi was falling in a dramatic slow-motion, spiritual sharingan that Obito gifted him still tainting his vision red, he barely noticed the surge of red that enveloped his students until that warm chakra reached out to wrap around him too.

**_"That old hag...,"_** Kyuubi's voice echoed in his mind, and before Kakashi could even panic, he felt a shift in the air that was so similar to the feeling of Kamui. **_"I hate using this unstable jutsu. Tch. Hang on tight, kit."_**

Kakashi then watched in awed horror when Kyuubi's chakra lurched towards Kaguya, intercepting her handsigning and doing the exact same thing that Obito did to Kakashi by using Kaguya's hands to launch his own jutsu.

Then, there was a burst of light, Kaguya screeched in betrayal while Kyuubi tugged Kakashi up until he collided hard with the tangled bodies of his students as the world swirled and swirled and swirled...

And Kakashi woke up in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the lush greens, the sound of the calm river that was like soothing music to his ears and the familiar scent of Konoha's forest.

Despite his confusion at the sudden change of landscape, Kakashi sought for his students first, refusing to lose any more of the people that he has cherished.

They were not in sight, nowhere in his sensory range and he couldn't even pick up their scents.

Kakashi's mind unwillingly reeled back to the boy that was crushed under a rock, gurgling out blood as he offered his sharingan to Kakashi. He thought of the girl that willingly jumped in front of his raikiri, remembering the warmth of her blood in his hands. He remembered the smile on a disintegrating face, the words that encouraged his student to become Hokage and the sorrow he felt when he lost his friend once again.

And now, he lost his students too.

Kakashi had to take a full second to gather himself back together, reeling in his escalating breaths and tried to clear the fog from his mind. There were still chances that his students were not dead yet. Perhaps whatever jutsu that Kyuubi had done has simply separated Team 7 miles away from each other.

Perhaps he has not lost anyone else...

Kakashi staggered, swaying as he made his way to the river, feeling slightly light-headed. He usually would blame it on chakra exhaustion, but his chakra reserve was oddly not depleted. Instead, he felt that he was so full of chakra that chakra-high was probably more plausible to explain his light-headedness.

Once Kakashi made it to the river and saw his own reflection, he _yelped._

_What. The. Actual. Fuck._

"Kai!" he immediately attempted to break whatever genjutsu that was inflicted on him, but to no avail, the reflection didn't change.

Kakashi blinked at his reflection, lifting one shaky hand to touch his bare face. He traced the outline of his jaw and cheekbones—the only familiar features on his face apart from his lips and the mole at his chin _—_ before moving to his nose. His nose was a little bit more slender now, much like the Uchiha's delicate nose structures while his eyes were no longer pitch black.

No. They were green and blue.

As in, Sakura's green and Naruto's blue.

He still has his trademark gravity-defying silver hair, but it was a tad bit longer _—_ so similar to the length of Sakura's hair as the gravity-defying ends hovered just slightly above his shoulders. Looking down at the rest of his body, he concluded that he has somehow reverted himself to the height and build of his body back when he was eighteen.

Fuck. What the hell did the Kyuubi do?

Then, Kakashi saw a flash of colour under his messy bangs and he immediately pushed his bangs away from his forehead. Kakashi then had to swallow back a shriek upon seeing the purple diamond at the centre of his forehead.

"No," he mouthed, horrified.

But the horror didn't stop him from checking his chakra reserves.

Kakashi almost shrieked again.

His chakra reserve has expanded so large and so brimmingly full of chakra that Kakashi knew that he wouldn't have any problem if he fought with a thousand shadow clone now.

Then, the realisation dawned onto him, and Kakashi swore.

He had an abnormally large chakra reserve now. Like, an Uzumaki-large chakra reserve. Specifically, an Uzumaki plus bijuu kind of chakra reserve.

He had _Naruto's_ chakra reserve.

Further inspection of his chakra coils has confirmed that idea. Kakashi also happened to realise that he has second chakra storage at the mark on his forehead.

He had Sakura's Strength of A Hundred Seal.

At this rate, Kakashi wouldn't even be shocked if he has Sasuke's sharingan too.

So, just to be sure of the forming theory inside his head, Kakashi summoned his chakra to his eyes, half-hoping that nothing would happen because that would just confirm his theory _—_

His mismatched eyes shifted, morphing to spinning red.

_Oh, for the love of Icha Icha._

Not only he had Sasuke's sharingan, but he also had the ability to activate them at will like a real Uchiha.

Taking in the reflection of his eyes, Kakashi couldn't help but notice the difference of his eyes from Sasuke's. The pattern of the sharingan was significantly different, looking more like a morbid mix of Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyou and Kakashi's own Mangekyou _—_

_Oh, fuck._

He had Obito's spiritual sharingan when Kyuubi launched the jutsu that threw him into this predicament.

The pattern of his sharingan now looked suspiciously like the pattern of Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyou combined with his and Obito's Mangekyou pattern.

Kakashi didn't even know if he _wanted_ to test his new sharingan out.

(He probably should, if he wanted to survive, but this was fairly terrifying to him, having his students' attributes inside his somehow de-aged body, so it was perfectly justified that he was a hairbreadth away from panicking, okay?)

Kakashi blinked once he has made sure that the sharingan was _really_ there and not a trick of light, before he willed the eyes to fade back into his mismatched blue and green ones.

He was never going to get used to this.

But he was a prodigy for a reason, and a former ANBU like him did not fret too long in unsuspecting circumstances. Thus, Kakashi stood, eyeing his tattered white shirt emblazoned with the Uchiha crest with a mild amusement before he summoned a portal to Kamui dimension.

(He was so grateful that he still has the access to the Kamui dimension that he once shared with Obito.)

Kakashi praised the gods that Obito has been using this dimension as his safehouse because he really needed another set of clothes as he plotted his next plan.

He needed to know where the fuck Kyuubi has sent him anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all realise that majority of Kakashi time-travel fic went back to Kannabi bridge mission, right?
> 
> And yes. Team 7 becomes one. And those three plus Kyuubi are definitely chilling in the bijuu mindscape as they watched their lazyass sensei flailed and tried to cope with the sudden change of the universe's biology as well as saving the world from Zetsu with their combined powers.
> 
> Naruto has too much fun laughing at Kakashi that Sasuke and Kurama have to work together to attempt booting him out of the mindscape. It didn't work.


	2. Power comes with insanity. Or voices in your head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently, it is kinda hard to write Kakashi as OP character. Especially considering that he has four other souls inside his head. lol

"God damn it, Kyuubi."

Those four words have become his personal mantra now, considering that it must have been the fifth or so times he grumbled that line to himself in the span of three minutes.

Kakashi really _hated_ that stupid fox.

The Kyuubi didn't send him to some other place that was away from the war against Kaguya. Noooo, the stupid fox sent him to some other _time,_ straight into another _war._

 _The Third Shinobi War,_ to be precise.

God damn it, Kyuubi.

Because for all the power of a god damn bijuu, surely Kyuubi could give a little hint of Kakashi's _when_ abouts? At least a little note saying that he would be dropped in the period of war rather than discovering that on his own when a bunch of Iwa-nin tried to crush his skull with surprise doton jutsu the moment he hopped out of Kamui to scout his environment.

Bless Kamui. God, Kakashi adored Obito's auto-activated Kamui. He would've been a crushed pulp if not because of that ability.

But all in all, Kyuubi was the _worst_.

And has the worst freaking timing in all history of worst timing.

Kakashi phased through the Iwa-nin, dark cloak billowing with his movements as he swiped a kunai from his enemy and drove it through the man’s throat in one smooth movement. The man gurgled, falling dead to the ground before his teammates could even react. Kakashi took the advantage of that moment of surprise, white lightning flickered in his hands as he phased through the falling body and lunged for his next kill.

Two Iwa-nin fell to their death—the last thing they saw was the seething cold fury of the flickering lightning that illuminated the blank white mask of their unknown assailant.

Kakashi pulled his hands out of the fallen nin and turned his attention towards the remaining standing members of Iwa squad.

“Get the omega away!” one of the Iwa-nin barked towards the pair that lagged at the back of the squad. “We’ll hold him off.”

The mismatched gaze of brilliant blue and bright green trailed to the retreating shadows, only to widen in recognition.

Then, red.

Red. Red. Red.

Kakashi could only see _red_.

He would recognise that dark blue and orange sleeve _everywhere._

 _Obito_.

He sniffed the air, taking in the scent of blood mingled with something much, much sweeter that made his mouth watered and—

Kakashi _lost_ it.

Black flames erupted from nowhere, consuming the leader of the Iwa squad before the man could even seek for Kakashi’s gaze from the eyeholes. Kakashi phased through the doton jutsu that was attempting to skewer him, gliding like an omen of doom—dark cloak billowing, white mask a stark contrast against his heavy hood and red eyes gazing murder to those who dared to meet his gaze—and like the grim reaper, he left deaths and scattered corpses in his wake.

When the lightning fade, there was not one soul of the Iwa troop that remained in their charred bodies.

Intercepting the retreating shadows were terribly easy, considering that they were already turning against each other by the time he ripped the dimension apart to appear right in front of them. Kakashi didn’t bother to listen to their argument. He didn’t bother to take notice on the way the female Iwa-nin curled her body in front of Obito’ tattered one, one kunai pointed threateningly at her partner.

It was none of his concern.

He simply activated his Raikiri and obliterated the man. It was all too easy. The Iwa-nin has immediately stopped arguing with his partner in favour of launching an avalanche towards Kakashi, but Kakashi was quicker and have more motivation to kill, thus the man stood no chance. The scent of Obito’s blood triggered a mad bloodlust he didn’t know existed within him—a form of hatred that he didn’t know he was capable of feeling—but he didn’t care.

Was this what Sasuke felt when he lost his family?

Was this the hatred and anger that drove Madara insane?

Was this the pain and anger that broke his Obito when Rin died?

Kakashi didn’t know. He didn’t want to stop and think about it.

He has lost that boy twice.

He wasn’t going to lose Obito for the third time.

His lips curled behind the mask as a deep snarl tore from his throat. Cold lightning flickered back to life in his hand and he turned around to end the last Iwa-nin.

(Obito was bleeding to death in the hands of the enemy and Kakashi wanted to protect him, so he needed to kill kill kill kill kill—)

_"Don’t fall for it, idiot."_

Kakashi stopped.

 _Kyuubi?_ He called back, hoping that by chance that the fox was stuck inside his mind and maybe he wasn’t so alone—

The voice in his head didn’t reply.

Kakashi waited, and when the silence persisted, he laughed—mad and unhinged—finally submitting to the dark thoughts that have been haunting him ever since he was sent here. Of course. Of course he would always end up alone. His mother died. His father died. His teammates died. His teacher died. His pseudo-elder sister died. Even his students were not immune to be the victims to his bad luck.

He was destined to be alone.

Whoever that he ended up loving would die.

Kakashi drove his lightning-encased hand towards the trembling Iwa-nin.

_"Don’t!"_

He stopped, merely inches from the woman’s chest, the red of his eyes faded upon seeing the green glowing hue of chakra from her hands that hovered above Obito’s torn body. The Iwa-nin was sobbing, yet the flicker of her chakra didn’t waver, steadily closing the tattered chunk of Obito’s torso.

“Please,” she croaked, looking up to meet his mismatched gaze with tear-glazed eyes. “Kill me after he is stable.”

Kakashi blinked, the strange rage within him subsided as the confusion arisen. He allowed his lightning to fade but did not let his guard down by one bit. He simply stood there, staring numbly at the way Obito’s right arm was hanging off his shoulder with measly strings of muscles that connected the tattered limb. Obito's right leg was in a similar predicament, torn and twisted so grotesquely that amputation would have been a mercy by this point. Kakashi watched in awed confusion when the Iwa-nin worked on Obito. The woman was attempting to stop the bleeding without care of her depleting chakra reserve, although it didn't do much to help.

Kakashi only interfered when the worst of the bleeding has been reduced as the woman’s eyelids struggled to remain open.

He caught her into his arms before she collapsed onto Obito’s broken form.

“Why?” he asked, voice quiet as he laid her to rest on the ground.

_Why heal an enemy? Why go to this extent?_

The woman choked a delirious laugh. “Because I hate them too.”

Kakashi cocked his head—confused.

“Take the omega to the base,” she rambled, too exhausted to speak clearer than a slur, yet the way she spat the words out conveyed her distaste. “Cut off his limbs and tongue. A breeding stock did not need to move or speak,” she spat to the grass beside her, voice dropped to a mockery of a man’s voice, “Just make sure his womb is intact.”

That would have angered Kakashi again yet his wrath was overpowered with pure confusion.

 _Womb?_ Kakashi thought. _But Obito is a guy?_

Somewhere at the back of his mind, he swore that there were voices echoing his thought with the same amount of bewilderment.

“I’m loyal to my country,” the Iwa-nin slurred, eyes fluttering shut. “But I love my fellow omega more.”

Kakashi was very, very confused.

Then, her eyes snapped open with a vicious vigour, shaking fingers shot up to grasp the collar of Kakashi’s cloak, causing the dark hood to slide off and reveal stark silver hair.

“Give me your oath, _alpha_ ,” she hissed, chakra flickering unsteadily like a candle was about to be snuffed out. “Give me your words that you will get him some help. Give him back to Konoha. Keep him with you. I don’t care,” she gritted her teeth, swallowing harshly as she moved one hand to fumble with her uniform. “Just give me your words that he will be cared for and never be treated like a breeding cattle.”

Kakashi was still terribly confused with _everything_ , but this woman was _dying_. She was dying from saving Obito. She risked betraying her nation and dying out of chakra exhaustion to give Obito a survival chance.

She deserved his words.

“I swear I would protect him with my own life,” he murmured, finding that not one word of that promise was a lie. “He would be cared for with respect and kindness.”

The grip on his cloak slackened and the hand that was in her uniform pocket shoved something to his chest.

Kakashi looked down, feeling the blood drained from his face when he saw the two perfect spheres of onyx eyes in the glass container.

“They’re his,” she gasped, glazed eyes fixed on his own with a knowing look. “Return them to him.”

With that, her trembling hand slid down the fabric to lay limp on the ground. Her eyes fluttered shut, and soon, she was completely unconscious, her chest heaved with effort.

Kakashi laid her under a tree before he gathered the eyes and picked Obito up. Being mindful of the tattered limbs, Kakashi readied himself to tear open a portal to his Kamui dimension.

_I’ll protect him._

_I swear._

* * *

For all the bravado he put on in front of his teammates, Obito really didn't want to die.

He was just turning _fourteen,_ stillso young with goals to achieve and expectations to defy. He wanted to be a Hokage, to prove to the assholes that only looked at him and saw a breeding stock that an Omega like him could be a leader too. 

He wasn't the first omega who will wear the hat, but he sure as hell would be the first _ordinary_ omega to become Hokage.

Even if he wasn't a prodigious genius like the Nidaime, didn't mean that he couldn't do it.

Plus, if he died here, it would only prove to his clansmen that an omega didn't belong in the battlefield.

That was wrong. He wanted to defy that stupid expectation. After the gruelling struggles to get this chance, he was not going to fail. He had to fight teeth and bones to be allowed out of Konoha’s gates for this mission and if he failed—

Any male omega that was born after him would end up being confined in the village, serving duties as a breeding stock because some god awful tradition of the old clans firmly believed that the likelihood of producing stronger kekkei genkai increased dramatically when the super-rare male omega was one of the parents.

Obito already had enough being victimised by that stupid belief, having random alphas of his clan coming up to him ever since he was _five_ to bury their nose into his neck and rubbed their scent all over his mating gland without showing any manners or courtesy what so ever. They have already been marking him, whispering promises that when he became of age, they would be coming to claim him and produce lots of strong Uchiha for the clan.

Obito wanted to change that belief, and the only way to do that was to become strong.

He has no wish to seal the fate of a breeding stock to future male omega that was unfortunately born into any of the old clans, thus, in short, Obito really, really, really didn't want to die.

But everything was dark—his left eye was not functioning despite being free of injury—and he could no longer feel the right side of his body. The rest of his body was in agony. Each breath was a war on its own. Blood clogged his throat, making it even harder to breathe.

Then, there was a tremor in the ground and Obito heard something shattered right above him.

“I knew I smell an omega,” an unfamiliar voice said, glee dripped in his voice.

Obito wanted to speak, but the blood that clogged his throat lurched up, causing him to gurgle in pain.

“And look at that,” another one said. “An Uchiha.”

“Konoha is stupid,” the first voice drawled, and Obito whimpered in pain when he was hauled up by his left arm. “Letting an Uchiha omega out to fight in a war.”

Obito struggled to move his right arm, wanting to reach for a kunai to defend himself.

It was a futile effort, of course.

“Mari!” the man that was holding him barked, and soon Obito felt that he was transferred into a pair of much gentler arms. “Heal his womb. Make sure that we can still breed him.”

“But, sir—!” the woman that was holding him cried out, exuding a protective lovey scent that almost dulled Obito’s pain. “His limbs, sir! We need to fix them first—”

“Cut them off.”

Dread washed all over his body.

“Sir?”

“A breeding cattle doesn’t need to move,” he ordered, and Obito felt a rough hand on his chin, tipping his face to the side before he felt crooked nose on his neck. The hot breath tickled his skin, while the lustful scent caused nausea to rise up his broken body. “Cut his tongue and gouge his eyes while you’re at it too,” he added once he was done marking Obito. “We just want him to provide Uchiha into our ranks. He doesn't need anything else. Just make sure his womb is intact.”

There was a beat silence, the omegan scent around him suddenly faded to a dull muted scent as he felt the soothing chakra healing his centre.

This was it. He was going to be turned into a breeding cattle by Iwa.

Obito wished that he had died.

* * *

Kakashi was at a stalemate.

He has shed the cloak and mask he has liberated from Obito’s stash in this dimension the moment he stepped inside Kamui. Leaving Obito for a brief moment of reluctance, he ventured out, aiming for the storage warehouse of Konoha’s hospital. He liberated supplies for Obito—moving completely on auto-pilot—and returned to Kamui once he has gathered enough.

Then, he realised that he was not a medic.

Sure, he still remembered the theories he has read over Rin's and Sakura’s shoulders, but he has never put those theories to use. He knew the basic first-aid to sustain certain wounds, but Obito’s condition was not in his list of knowledge.

Kakashi was at a stalemate.

He could've dumped Obito in the hospital, but something selfish within him refused to let this boy out of his sight again. Crashing with Obito into the hospital would surely have him carted to T&I at the first sight, and the last thing he wanted was to have his mind looked at and revealed the future to Konoha when he didn't even know if Konoha here would have the same blind prejudice that killed his father.

What if Inoichi saw what his Obito had done and told the Hokage? What if the Hokage and the council decided to execute this Obito to prevent the war that has happened to Kakashi? What if Danzou took interest in this Obito?

Kakashi refused to risk that.

Then, came the weird terms that the Iwa-nin has used regarding Obito. Omega. Alpha. And...

Obito has a womb?

That was the ultimate what the fuck in this whole fucked up situation.

Kakashi was confused and at his wit’s end.

He traced a finger over the purple diamond at the centre of his forehead, feeling the storage of chakra that his little kunoichi has worked so hard to gain. The vulnerable human inside him couldn’t help but wished that Sakura was here. What’s the purpose of having her abilities if he didn’t know how to use it to save the boy that was his personal hero?

_"Kaka—"_

Kakashi blinked at that faint voice that so resembled his only female student.

It happened again.

Now that he has the time to wind down from the adrenaline of the sudden scouting turned to fight and rescue mission, Kakashi finally was able to reflect on the strange voices he heard in his mind.

The one that stopped him from killing the Iwa-nin sounded so much like Sasuke.

The second one that stopped him sounded like Naruto.

And this one, it sounded like Sakura.

Perhaps it was the product of his delirious grieving mind, perhaps it was the result of having this much power in one body—but Kakashi wanted to think that his students were still here with him.

_Sakura?_

Thus, he called back, hopeful for a reply.

There was none—though he wasn't surprised at the lack of response—but there was a sudden jolt of memories rushing through his head.

He remembered gruelling chakra training, attempting to resurrect a dead fish under the watchful gaze of Tsunade. He remembered the exact way to channel his chakra into a wound, weaving the skin close and healing the cells inside. He remembered reading a forbidden jutsu scroll—written in the hands of Senju Tobirama—as the Nidaime explained in full detail a kinjutsu that would accelerate cell division, promote regeneration and reattach missing limbs or prosthetic to one’s body. He remembered the exact way to activate the Strength of A Hundred Seal and channelled it towards mass healing.

The rush of memories stopped with a warm feeling that reminded him of Sakura’s cheerful smile, Naruto’s encouraging grin and thumbs-up as well as Sasuke’s smug huff.

Kakashi was fighting tears.

He now knew enough to help Obito.

_Thank you, Sakura._

With that, he fumbled to tie his hair back, pushing his sleeves up to the elbows to get to work.

He has laid Obito in one of the liberated futons after amputating the tattered limbs and wrapping the still bleeding wounds in a tight bandage. He didn’t have the heart to put Obito’s limbs aside for burial, and he was deeply grateful for that, considering that he has the Nidaime’s kinjutsu in his head now.

Kakashi steadily unwrapped the bandages, moving with methodical precision as he snipped the edges of muscles that were beyond repair on Obito’s shoulders. He healed the bones first, forcing the shattered bones in the amputated arm back to its original position. It must have been a delusion of his, but Kakashi felt that he was not alone conducting this healing. He felt like Sakura was there with him, guiding him (from perhaps the spirit world) to heal his friend. It felt almost too natural, to mend the shattered bones of this arm before proceeding with the reattaching process.

Kakashi was suddenly grateful that he has Naruto’s chakra reserve. There was no way in hell he was able to do this in one go if he has normal shinobi’s reserve.

The reattaching was much trickier and required more concentration. The odd thoughts that floated in his head (that he now has considered as Sakura’s spirit attempting to help him) warned him about the risk of reattaching the arm the wrong way. Thus, he made sure that he fit the bone properly into its socket, adhering to the random thoughts in his head that prompted him to weave the muscles layer by layer, forcing the cells to regenerate using chakra and making sure that not one mistake was done.

He didn’t know how long it took, but even with Naruto’s reserve, Kakashi felt reasonably depleted after he has successfully reattached the arm.

Yet, he didn’t stop. He repeated the process with the mangled leg.

It has taken twice as long, considering that he has to fix the limb first and unlike the arm, Obito’s leg was _destroyed_.

Kakashi has to resort to Sakura's Strength of A Hundred Seal to sustain him and provide him with enough chakra to continue on the healing of Obito's internal organs. He felt the marks spread all across his face, elevating his energy from the exhaustion as he started with Obito's head. There was a swell on the right side of Obito's brain and before Kakashi could start panicking because he did not know how to deal with that, the imaginary Sakura presence in his mind prompted him to reduce the swelling, guiding him to heal that part until it was relatively safe to be allowed to heal on its own. He proceeded downwards, fixing the torn right half of Obito's face, attempting to fix it with minimal scarring before his glowing hands reached flat eye sockets.

He transplanted the eyes back, using the healing chakra to heal the torn optic nerve before he wrapped a clean bandage to cover the newly transplanted eyes.

His hands moved downwards, halting briefly over the slight bump at the side of Obito's neck.

Oddly enough, it was not an injury. Not a swelling or anything. It was just… _there._

Deciding that it was not dangerous, Kakashi moved on to fix Obito’s lungs, having to force the excessive fluid and blood out through Obito’s mouth before he could heal it properly. The ribs were next, followed with the heart and the organs that were crushed under the rock. Kakashi followed this pattern for the next hour or so until he was satisfied with the Obito’s condition.

Kakashi halted his glowing hands when he trailed his path down to Obito’s abdomen.

_"That is not supposed to be there. What the fuck."_

That was definitely Sakura’s voice.

But Kakashi made a point to not call out for his own delusion. His students were gone, probably melded with his own body to become the one that he used right now. That voice was definitely a figment of his grieving mind, one of his many unhealthy coping methods.

As if he hasn’t been making up imaginary Obito in his mind after the Kannabi Bridge anyway.

The voice would disappear after a few months, he was sure. Just like the imaginary Obito he created after Kannabi.

Instead of pondering on the ghostly voices of his students, Kakashi focused on the thing that has stopped him and probably surprised his imaginary Sakura. He spread his healing chakra a little bit, wrapping around each organ in the abdomen to make out their shape and position. Everything seemed normal, except for the not so little addition of an organ just slightly above and behind the bladder.

Kakashi was no expert on the human body, but he was pretty sure he kind of recognised that shape from all the diagrams that Rin has brought to their training and the giant ass dummy that poor Minato has been forced to show to Kakashi as the man was tasked with the duties to educate Kakashi with sex-ed, considering that Kakashi has skipped that special class when he graduated early from the academy.

(Kushina has literally brought plates of dango and sit at the side to watch her boyfriend flailed during that session.)

But that organ was supposedly to only exist inside _women_.

Kakashi stared at Obito’s face, wondering if he was somehow thrown into a universe where Obito was born as a female.

Obito didn't looked different from the one in his memories. But he (she?) probably hasn't hit puberty yet, so it might be possible if this Obito was born as a female but opted for a tomboyish appearance. It was tempting to strip those pants off, but that would be like he was perving and taking advantage on his own friend. And if Obito was truly born as a female, Kakashi was not supposed to see his (her?) privates at all. He was not that kind of guy, no matter how perverted some people thought he was, considering all the porns that he read in public.

While he was stuck in his mental dilemma, his hands moved downwards on their own, hovering centimetres above Obito’s crotch, chakra spreading to wrap around the body that was hidden under the loose pants.

Nope. That was a dick alright.

 _What the fuck_.

Kakashi didn’t know whose voice was it that echoed those three words in his mind, but he was gonna say it out loud anyway.

“What the fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Meanwhile, in the mindscape:**
> 
> "I'm so tired of yelling!"
> 
> Kyuubi snorted, opening an eye to stare at the fuming girl that was yelling at the Hatake brat. He folded his ears, going back to his nap when Naruto and Sasuke moved to hold back their frustrated female teammate.
> 
> "He can't hear us if we don't yell," Naruto tried to placate. "Kurama said so."
> 
> "But I'm tired of yelling," Sakura pouted, kicking the air. "And why wouldn't he just strip Obito?? I want to know how the hell Obito would have an actual womb!"
> 
> "Because that would be so rapist-ish," Sasuke huffed, toeing one of the fluffy tail that was spread out across the mindscape. He flopped down onto the fur, pointedly ignoring Kurama's annoyed grunt. "Let him be."
> 
> "You're oddly fine with this, Sasuke...," Naruto mumbled.
> 
> "Because we couldn't do anything," Sasuke yawned. "Waste of time to regain our bodies back."
> 
> "Keh," Kurama huffed. "You just have a kick out from your sensei's suffering, brat."
> 
> Sasuke didn't deny that one.
> 
> "Ugghhh!!!!" Sakura yelled, pulling on her own hair. "STRIP HIM, KAKA-SENSEI. I WANNA SEE IF HE HAS A VAGINA."
> 
> Naruto sweatdropped.


	3. Dogs solve every problems. Someone should give the Hokage a dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few comments from the FFnet claimed that by making this story an Omegaverse story has successfully flushed down a good idea down the toilet. It genuinely hurt my feelings and pride on my own work.
> 
> Here's an update because how else would I sob over my hurt feeling as a writer?
> 
> On the side note, I kinda foreshadowed who is the main villain of this story. My muse said it is subtle, so you're gonna have to really squint and use all the magnifying glasses to look for it. Feel free to tell me your guess.

With Obito safely tucked in Kamui dimension, it was safe to assume that the Kannabi Bridge mission has happened and nothing could be done to change it.

Though, on a brighter note, Kakashi now knew that he has about one-month window before the mission that would end with Rin’s death. Thus, he divided his waking time between training and plotting.

He knew he has to seek for Madara’s hideout, having only bits from his Obito’s villain monologue during the war to clue him to the exact location of the old Uchiha.

Rescuing this Obito has removed the main trigger for the disastrous events in the future, so Kakashi mainly prioritised to get rid of Madara now.

Then, he needed to find Zetsu and ended that bastard for good.

But Kakashi was not stupid either.

Butterfly effect was a real thing, and he knew that there was a chance that his interference may have changed the path of the future. Madara now has no successor, but what guarantee Kakashi would have that the psychotic Uchiha would not seek another victim as his successor? Then there were the mass deaths of the Iwa squad at his hands—something that he knew would affect the current war, whether positively or negatively, he has yet to see.

There were lots of works to do, and Kakashi was going into this blind.

He only has his theories and the occasional voices of his students to help him. He was aware that his current body was a bizarre mix of all four of them—the only logical explanation on why he would have his students' attributes that could only be genetic. Heck, the reason his body looked more like a lanky teenager than a full-grown man that he was before Kyuubi pulled this stupid time-travel shit was probably because this body was a combination of three sixteen-years-old and one twenty-eight years old. His students' age outweighed his own in that ratio, hence was probably the reason that this body was more teenager than adult now.

But then again, it was only a theory from logical thoughts he could pull out to explain his situation. He has no idea if it was true or not.

(He had thought that he looked like how he was when he was eighteen, but his voice occasionally cracked like he was _starting_ puberty instead of nearing its end, thus Kakashi deemed that this body might be younger than eighteen and has sulkily resigned himself to go through puberty again.)

God damn it, Kyuubi.

In short, Kakashi has no idea whatsoever on how to save the future.

Thus, he started with the basic strategy— _training_ and _scouting._

He fully utilised Naruto’s chakra reserve and uncanny durability of Kage Bunshin to send out a bunch of henged clones as scouts to supervise the situation. He sent a pair for each hidden village, slapping a seal that Minato has shown him back then on the clones to ensure that they would not be dispelled or have their henge be unveiled so easily. He sent another bunch of clones out to seek for Madara’s hideout and Zetsu’s whereabouts.

Once he was satisfied with his scouting team, Kakashi packed up and headed towards Uzushio.

To ensure that Kiri would not have the power of the Sanbi, Kakashi has chosen to interfere in that fated mission _after_ Rin was turned into an unstable jinchuuriki. He would fix that seal before Rin could commit suicide at the hands of his younger self, and there was no better place to seek knowledge of seals than the ruins of Uzushio.

He needed to find a way to undo the puppet seal too, in case Madara has gotten his hands on Rin this time around.

Plus, Uzushio was so deserted that no one would heed it any mind if Kakashi loudly trained to discover his current power there.

Thus, Kakashi camped out in Uzushio.

His days revolved around reading, training, receiving information from his scouts and interfering whenever his clones popped up to report any information on the confrontation that happened between the hidden villages. Whenever he had to interfere, Kakashi would don his cloak and the blank white mask, appearing between the fight to sabotage the war. He fought both opposing sides, knocking all of the shinobi that crossed his path unconscious, but never hurting them.

It was fun to baffle and anger all five warring hidden villages.

When the sun set, Kakashi spent his nights tending to Obito.

It has been three weeks, and yet there was no sign that Obito was going to wake up.

It was worrying.

So, Kakashi trained and studied harder.

His nights were spent with his nose buried in old dusty scrolls he scavenged from the ruins, studying the scraps of medical scrolls he found and immersing himself in the knowledge of seals that he thought would be useful for his mission to end Zetsu. He spent _nights_ by Obito’s side, studying the jinchuuriki seals as well as the seal deconstructing manual in preparation for the mission that he would be interfering soon.

Throughout the whole time, Obito didn’t so much as twitch, but Kakashi remained by his side anyway, only nodding off to sleep with his back against the black cube of Kamui’s dimension and a half-read scroll on his lap.

He spent the free time during the days to train—getting used to his current body and all of its upgrades glory. His new chakra reserve allowed him to create a new offensive sequence, considering he no longer needed to worry about chakra exhaustion when he used consecutive high-ranked jutsu.

All hail Naruto’s chakra reserve.

Experimenting with the new sharingan was an experience. He was aware that there was a high probability he would have the sharingan abilities of both Itachi and Sasuke alongside the abilities of Obito’s sharingan that he was used to, but he wasn’t expecting it to be this kind of _overkill_ and _fun._

Katon was never Kakashi’s favourite elemental release, but with Sasuke’s sharingan? It was so much fun to experiment.

Then, since he was the one who taught Sasuke the Chidori, and Sasuke has upgraded it to Kirin, Kakashi didn’t waste any time to attempt recreating Kirin.

He might have accidentally created something far deadlier that he has gleefully named _Raiju_.

The white wolf composed of cold seething white lightning filled him with so much pride, especially when he realised that he could manipulate its size and directed its movements like how he would direct his old ninken.

Kakashi still wanted a dog, though.

He had his wish near the end of his third week in Uzushio.

He just finished his training for the day, allowing his Raiju to fade into the air as he untied his hair. The spiky gravity-defying hair has mellowed down to spiky mane that reached his shoulder blades—the perils of his genetics, to be able to grow his hair so fast that he needed a haircut for every four days or so to keep it in its usual length.

Although long hair was not his thing, he let it grow.

Sakura used to enjoy having long hair after all.

And this long hair reminded him of his dad.

Alone in the past was not ideal for his consistent effort to keep the grief over his father’s suicide at the back of his mind. It resurfaced—the grief, the anger at the man’s betrayal, the forgiveness and the heavy acceptance—and the feelings drove him to push himself even further.

He didn’t want to drown in those emotions.

But, he was proud. There was no question about it. His first death at Pein’s hands gifted him with the closure he needed.

He was proud to be Hatake Sakumo’s son.

Kakashi tied his hair at his nape, quirking a tiny smile that didn’t reach his eyes. It was about time he returned to Kamui to give Obito his daily sponge bath, but to look at his friend’s sleeping face and remembered the unwavering firmness of Obito’s claim that Sakumo was a hero—

—it would invoke a rush of emotions that he wasn’t sure he could handle.

Thus, Kakashi loitered along the rocky beach of Uzushio, skipping stones and basically wasting time until the emotions went away on their own.

A tiny whimper stopped him from his brooding. He immediately sought for the source of that noise, only to discover a whimpering little puppy near one of the ruins.

“Oh, you poor thing,” he murmured, crouching over the puppy to peer at the panting dog that was stuck under a slab of rock.

The puppy barked at him, scratching on the rock as if wanting to free its mother.

Kakashi patted the little pup, nudging it to the side so that he could remove the slab away. He eyed the broken pillar at the side, hoping so hard that this dog didn’t use the ruins as a shelter for its puppies. Kakashi prayed to whatever deity that was watching all dogs on earth that the dog only has one puppy and Kakashi would not be greeted with the sight of crushed puppies once he removed the rock slab.

Thankfully, it was only the dog that was trapped under the rock.

Kakashi quirked a humourless smile.

Funny that he rescued two lives from being crushed under a rock in the span of three weeks.

Kakashi comforted the puppy with a crooning voice and another pat on the head, hands already glowing green to heal the dog. Intelligent golden eyes cleared from the pained glaze, zoning onto Kakashi with intense scrutinization before the dog let out an amused huff once she was healed enough to stagger onto her feet.

“Take it easy,” Kakashi warned, keeping a glowing hand on her.

The dog rolled her eyes. “Doubt that you will stay put if you’re the one injured, pup.”

Kakashi blinked, honestly not expecting that response. He had thought that she was an ordinary stray that wandered this land scavenging the ruins of Uzushio, not a ninken.

“But still…,” he trailed off when his gaze met her stern look before letting out a deep sigh upon seeing her petulant trot. “I’m not aware that there is a ninken on the land.”

“We’re aware of your existence ever since you arrived,” she retorted, picking up her puppy by the scruff. “Wasn’t sure if you’re enemy or ally.”

“Ah,” Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry for all the—,” he made an aimless gesture with his hand, “—the noises.”

“The lightning wolf is a wonderful technique,” she hummed, tipping her head in a clear order for him to follow her.

“ _Raiju_ ,” he corrected, pride and glee in his voice.

The ninken snorted. She let her puppy down, and the little puppy immediately darted into the bushes decorating the ruins of a collapsed building. He followed her into the ruins, watching in silent interest when she tapped rhythmically on the carved floor, opening a hidden door with a stone stairway heading down.

Kakashi vaguely heard the echoes of puppies’ barks from the stairs.

His dog lover's urge nudged him to rush down, because… _puppies._

His shinobi instinct warned him to be careful, because… _ninken_.

Oh, the dilemma. How would one decide in this kind of situation?

“It won’t collapse,” she said, nodding towards Kakashi when he hesitated to follow her down the stairs.

“Are we heading to underground dog city?” Kakashi joked, bending down as he made his way down the narrow stairways, sharingan instantly activated to adjust to the darkness and sought for hidden traps.

“Huh,” she mused, golden eyes fixed on his own spinning red ones. “Weird seeing an Uchiha here.”

“Not an Uchiha,” Kakashi instantly retorted.

“Pretty sure I saw you have normal eyes before, pup.”

Kakashi swallowed back his words. Then, with much difficulties, he murmured;

“Only part Uchiha.”

Because that was the truth. Only a quarter of him was an Uchiha—the part of Sasuke that has melded into this body.

“Part Hatake and Uzumaki too, I assume?” she questioned, ignoring his startled jerk as she rolled her eyes. “I’m older than I look, pup,” she said, bounding down a few steps and waited for him at the landing. “I have lived around the Uzumaki long enough to know what an Uzumaki’s chakra feel like,” she huffed impatiently, eyeing his silver hair with interest. “And the god-awful beacon of please-kill-me silver hair is definitely a Hatake trait.”

Well, how would one respond to that?

Kakashi simply shrugged in response.

“Interesting,” she hummed, padding down the dimly-lit hallway with feather-light footsteps. “You looked so much like Sakumo-chan though.”

That, has frozen Kakashi mid-step.

“You know the White Fang?” he blurted out, heart thundering inside his chest.

The ninken tilted her head to meet his red-tinted gaze, muzzle pulled back in what that Kakashi swore was a teasing smirk. The golden eyes were so very _knowing_ when she threw her head back and howled an amused laugh.

“Who do you think bullied that pup when he tried to get his summoning contract?”

* * *

Sarutobi had a headache.

As if the war that was going on was not already piling stress on his old brain, the Uchiha decided to make it worse by attempting to kill their last Hatake.

Or attempting to drive poor young Kakashi to the same path that Sakumo has taken.

“Uchiha-san,” that was straight up a growl that definitely _did not_ intimidate Sarutobi at all. “It is _not_ Kakashi’s fault.”

Sarutobi opened his eyes to the stern voice of his successor, straightening his back just in case he needed to hold Minato back from actually ripping the throats of the horde of angry Uchiha that crowded his office.

He knew that this would happen if Obito didn't make it home from the mission.

An Uchiha was hardly ever be sent on a dangerous mission with minimal back-up, while an Uchiha _male_ omega was hardly ever be allowed out of the village at all. Obito was the first of his kind that was born among the Uchiha since the last eighty years. Sarutobi was deeply aware of how much the Uchiha elders were salivating at the thought of pairing Obito with the Uchiha’s strongest alpha to create stronger children for the clan.

He was also aware at the (creepy) marking that the poor boy was subjected to by his own clansmen—thus was one of the reasons he caved to Obito’s pleading and Fugaku’s proposal to send Obito in that Kannabi bridge mission.

For some odd reasons, Sarutobi saw Hashirama’s spirit and Tobirama’s persistence in that boy. Confining Obito within the walls of the village would not be good for the growth of that persistent spirit.

“This is ridiculous.”

Sarutobi whole-heartedly agreed with Fugaku’s annoyed comment.

Fugaku was at the back of the angry group—the only sane, reasonable one among the Uchiha—as he seemed to be holding himself back too, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose while his eyes squeezed shut as lines of annoyance deepened in his forehead.

“He’s the only alpha of the team,” one of the Uchiha—a newly minted jounin, Ayato—growled, baring his teeth to the hunched-up child. “It is your responsibility to protect Obito, brat.”

Kakashi lowered his blank gaze to the floor.

Sarutobi resisted the urge to openly sigh to his palms when Minato pushed Kakashi behind him. The Yellow Flash was ready to fight, as proven from the way his scent spiked in a challenge, daring the Uchiha to continue threatening his pup.

Ayato reasonably stepped back.

“Stay out of this, Namikaze,” another Uchiha snapped, taking the spot that Ayato just left. "Do you have any idea what he just did? His failure killed Obito!"

Kakashi flinched.

Rin squeezed his arm in assurance.

“They were ambushed,” Minato defended, teeth gritting as he tightened his hold on Kakashi’s stiff shoulders. “One jounin and two chuunin against Iwagakure's A-ranked elite squad,” he added, stepping forward to further secure Kakashi behind him. “Considering that Kakashi managed to get Rin home with only a scratch on her in that kind of odds, he did far better than you, _Setsuna-kun_ ,” Minato purred, lips curled in a saccharine smile. “A whole squad of jounin against Iwa’s _ordinary_ scouts and only _you_ survived, wasn’t it?”

Sarutobi would have applauded that comeback if only the situation wasn’t so tensed.

Really. Despite Obito’s unfortunate death, for Kakashi to be able to escape Iwa’s infamous elite squad and brought Rin back home safely was a feat that deserved recognition—moreover if one would consider that he was _eleven_ and literally have half of his sight blinded, complete with still bleeding eye and all.

“ _Namikaze_ ,” Setsuna growled, rising into the challenge.

Blue eyes narrowed into a vicious glare. _“Uchiha_.”

They engaged in a staring match—both chakra and scent spiked in challenge and teeth bared tauntingly—that by the time the tension was broken, both Sarutobi and Fugaku have inched closer to hold both alphas back in case if a fight actually erupted.

Sarutobi couldn’t have been any more grateful for his secretary’s flailing entrance.

“Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!” the chuunin shouted, scrambling between the two opposing sides with flailing arms and panicked expression. “There’s an emergency message from our scouts!”

Sarutobi immediately straightened up. Minato did the same too, reeling back his animosity in a drop of a pin though he still has his hand curved tight on Kakashi’s small shoulders. On the other side, Fugaku put a hand on Setsuna’s shoulder, flaring the dominance of the pack’s leader as he sent a warning glare to his clansman before he too, schooled his face to a poker face and shot an expectant look at the panting secretary.

“What is it, Minoru?” Sarutobi asked.

Minoru opened his mouth to answer, but then he immediately clamped it shut when he saw Kakashi. He shot an uncertain look towards the blank-faced child, before squaring his shoulder and quirked a gentle smile towards Rin who has been silently standing beside Kakashi this whole time.

“Ah, Rin-chan?” he said, his sweet smile growing bigger when Rin looked up to meet his gaze. “Why don’t you take Kakashi-kun to the pantry and make him some hot chocolate? It might help him feel better.”

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the blatant disregard of power hierarchy that Minoru just did.

Minato narrowed his eyes at the odd request too but nodded his encouragement when Rin sought his permission. Rin beamed at him, throwing an arm around Kakashi's stiff shoulders and gently coaxed the unresponsive boy out of the office.

Sarutobi blew a ring of smokes when the doors closed behind both children.

“I hope you have a reason for giving out orders in my office, Minoru-kun?” He asked, although more curious than offended.

Minoru never defied his orders. The beta was so obedient and efficient in his job. For the chuunin to blatantly disregard Sarutobi’s power in his own office, it must have been for a good reason.

Minoru grimaced.

“Pardon me, Hokage-sama,” he said, straightening up to offer the message scroll to the Hokage. “I think it’s best if Kakashi-kun is not present for this news.”

Sarutobi cocked an eyebrow, curious.

Minato’s facial expression turned grim with suspicions.

“Why?” the Yellow Flash asked, the exact time Sarutobi unrolled the message.

Sarutobi’s pipe fell from his lips once he read the message.

Minoru winced. 

“What?” Fugaku asked, voice edging with impatience though he reeled himself back, voice a little bit calmer and cooler when he asked again. “What is it, sir?”

Sarutobi’s voice was almost mechanical as he blurted out a soft horrified statement;

“The White Fang is back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Meanwhile, in the mindscape:**
> 
> "Holy shit," Sakura mouthed, turning to look at her teammates the moment Kyuubi cut off their connection with Kakashi's eyes. "Holy. Shit."
> 
> "Awh," Naruto pouted. "We are actually that strong if we combined our powers together....," he mumbled, kicking the air.
> 
> "Too bad that your teamwork is worse than my brotherhood with Shukaku," Kurama commented, muzzle pulled to a smug smirk as he side-eyed Sasuke. "Ne, little Uchiha?"
> 
> Sasuke rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring Sakura's accusing eyes and Naruto's sad sulky pout. He then sniffed delicately.
> 
> "Shut up, kitsune."


	4. Oh, the irony. Can Minato retch now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My birthday is this weekend, so my muse is kidnapping me for a time-off and a break from my dark clouds that were floating in the review section of this story in FFnet. No update on this weekend if he made true of his threat to confiscate my electronics, so I'm uploading this early. Enjoy~!

When it came to the news that a hundred-percent confirmed deceased shinobi suddenly reappearing, other hidden villages would've scoffed and dismissed the news as 'fake'.

But Konoha reacted differently.

They had the Nidaime. They had multiple scrolls of _forbidden_ jutsu written by the Nidaime.

They were aware of Edo Tensei.

Sarutobi nibbled on his pipe, albeit a bit subtle to not show his fraying nerves to his shinobi.

He had a headache again.

"Sakumo is back, you say? And he is the Ghost?" the Sandaime asked, eyes narrowing in the direction of his elite scout team. "Are you sure?"

Shikaku flinched under that sharp scrutinising gaze. "I couldn't confirm it with his mask on," he admitted, recalling the blank faceless mask hidden under a heavy dark hood. "But the hood slipped down when we engaged him. It was the Hatake's silver hair, sir."

Sarutobi felt his breath hitched in his throat.

If Sakumo was resurrected as the _Ghost_ —who has shown no alliance to any village whenever he interfered in the battlefield—then Konoha might be in danger.

They have not been kind to the man at all when he was alive—driving him to his suicide through heartless scorns and blames. The whole village was guilty of triggering Sakumo's suicide, including the people whom he had chosen to save instead of completing his mission.

If Sakumo returned with vengeance in his mind…

Well, Konoha was kinda screwed over.

 _Spirit of Peace_.

The civilians have been whispering that name since the past three weeks. Stories of a cloaked shadow wearing faceless mask were spread across the globe—the unknown shadow that has been interfering with the war since these past three weeks.

The _thing_ was a ghost.

Everything was useless against the spirit. Every kunai phased through its body. Paper bombs would explode, and the spirit would still stand there, cloak billowing as if the explosion didn't bother it at all. The spirit moved like the wind, phasing through everything like untouchable air, only to solidify when it landed a blow at the back of the neck that would knock its victim unconscious.

Every fight that occurred since the past three weeks would end up with both opposing sides calling in retreats as they hauled the unconscious (but relatively unharmed and still so very alive) shinobi back home to their respective village.

The five hidden villages suffered a mix emotion of bewilderment and anger.

The civilians, on the other hand, hailed the spirit as one of the deities that protected their people.

Now that Shikaku came with a report that the hailed spirit was actually one of Konoha's deceased shinobi whom Sarutobi has personally thought was horribly wronged by the village, he didn't really feel comfortable to know that it was running loose out there.

Inoichi clicked his tongue in that unnerving contemplating manner he used to do when he was worrying over something, thus successfully attracting Sarutobi's attention towards him.

"He gave a peculiar response when we addressed him as 'Sakumo', sir," he eventually added, lips pursed. "Though, I might say that something didn't really add up."

"Oh?" Sarutobi cocked an eyebrow.

"He was…," Inoichi trailed, pale blue eyes trailing to exchange a glance with his teammate. "Odd."

"Inoichi-kun?" Sarutobi pressed.

Inoichi exhaled a deep breath and grimaced.

"I tried to enter his mind," he started, voice trembling. "I didn't get to break through completely into his mind, but I've seen enough to notice that there was something peculiar about his mind."

Inoichi then hesitated, eyes slightly widened in a muted horror.

Sarutobi waited silently and patiently.

It took a hand on each of his shoulders for Inoichi to snap out of his shaken trance. He shot a grateful smile towards his friends, shoulders squared as he reported;

"It almost felt like he has more than one consciousness inside him—," he hesitated again, grimacing when he added, "—like multiple souls are being contained in one vessel."

That did not sound good.

"We think that was the reason he was resurrected with the sharingan, sir," Shikaku said with a solemn voice.

"And possess Uzumaki's chakra reserve," Chouza added. "We suspected that someone out there is experimenting with the Nidaime's Edo Tensei, sir."

Sarutobi resisted the urge to swear at the implication of that theory.

He did not need anyone out there revamping the Edo Tensei when they were at the peak of a world war. The Ghost has been equally offensive against all of the five nations whenever he popped in the middle of the battle to stop their fight.

The Ghost was neither their friend nor their foe.

But if someone out there has been toying with Edo Tensei, this Ghost might only be a test run before they moved on to something bigger.

Either way, Sarutobi had a horrible headache again.

* * *

His boy was slipping.

Minato didn't know what had transpired between Kakashi and Obito during the Kannabi mission, but it changed the last Hatake.

Never before would Minato ever thought that he would see his first student so... _disoriented_.

Kakashi barely talked after he returned from the mission. He didn't offer any reports despite being the captain of the mission, but instead, he simply stood silently beside Rin—the single remaining eye was wide and dazed while his face was drained from all colours. At first, Minato has dismissed it from shock and exhaustion—after all, Kakashi was able to quickly complete the mission and doubled back to pursue Obito and rescue Rin.

He completed that mission too.

The Kannabi bridge was destroyed and despite the strange interference from the _Ghost_ , Konoha now has the upper hand in the war.

Kakashi completed his mission twice faster than the expected time.

He then pursued Obito and rescued Rin.

He wasn't able to rescue Obito.

All in all, by Konoha's standard, the mission was a glowing success.

But humans were vicious.

Obito was killed in action, died under an unforgiving doton jutsu.

Naturally, considering how much the Uchiha valued Obito's existence, it has caused a severe backlash to Kakashi. Scorns were directed towards the boy—ironically just like the similar scorns that were directed towards Sakumo—as they blamed him for abandoning his team in favour of completing the mission.

(The irony almost made Minato retched.)

And what that made it worse was that there was no body for them to grieve.

They have sent squads to scavenge the area, only to be utterly baffled at the trails of charred bodies of Iwa-nin and the disappearance of Obito's corpse.

The only thing that they found was a Konoha hitai-ate that was stained with dried blood. The metal plate was dented on the right side.

The hitai-ate that was now in Kakashi's unforgiving grip.

The pup never let go of that hitai-ate, clutching it everywhere like it was his last lifeline to reality.

Perhaps it was.

Hatake Kakashi was slipping.

* * *

Kakashi was never her favourite.

Out of all three of her mate's students, Kushina favoured Obito the most.

It was not because she was biased that the boy was an omega just like her, but because Obito defied all traditional stereotypes of their secondary gender—going toe to toe with the prodigious Kakashi and didn't even flinch when Kakashi tried to assert his ranks in the hierarchy dominance was one of the many reasons Kushina adored Obito so much.

The knucklehead brat was a definite special snowflake and Kushina really wanted to see Obito inherited the hat.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was her least favourite.

He was a cocky brat—reasonably so, yes—despite doing a decent job shouldering the burden as the Hatake Clan Head at the age of eight. The youngest Clan Head in the council, and he never failed to attend all of the meetings as the head of one of the old clans in the Konoha, despite being the only member of the clan.

Kushina found that Kakashi's hard-edged adult-like behaviour was sort of creepy.

But she never blamed Kakashi for that.

Sakumo's death has changed the boy.

The boy was colder and far more aggressive in asserting his ranks—both as an alpha to his teammates and as a Clan Head among the council. It was something that Minato defended as the product of Sakumo's traumatic suicide and Kakashi's own needs to prove himself as a proper Konoha shinobi, unlike his father.

The boy has a personal mission to bring the Hatake clan back to the top Konoha, believing that Sakumo's suicide and the failed mission was a disgrace to his clan.

Kushina didn't like it.

Kakashi was _wrong._

But she didn't blame him. The boy grew up too quickly—far, far too quickly—for her own taste. He forced himself to be an adult when other children his age didn't even graduate from academy yet. He trained hard. He has no mercy when he killed. He wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice his subordinates if that was what it takes to complete the mission.

Cold.

Hatake Kakashi has an ice-cold heart.

And the village _encouraged_ him.

Sometimes, Kushina just wanted to pack up and go back to live in the ruins of Uzushio. She was _done_ with Konoha.

A good number of the councillors in Konoha were corrupted, power-hungry warmongers.

Encouraging a grieving and impressionable boy to become the cold-hearted killing machine was something that was not above their already low morals.

But the boy that was in her living room was not that cold-hearted killing machine.

They have carted Kakashi away from his path to the empty Hatake compound and guided the boy back to their home. The boy was still in his trance-like condition by the time they sit him on their couch. His single black eye was wide and dilated, his left arm was still stuck in the sling—and he wasn't going to remove that until the medic gave him the 'okay' even if Kushina had to resort to violence to stop him from doing so—while his right hand had a death grip on Obito's dented and bloodied hitai-ate.

Kushina has never seen Kakashi so broken.

"Kakashi."

The boy didn't move. He simply rolled his eye to the side where Minato was standing by the archway.

Minato smiled. "Bath is ready," he announced, barely hiding a flinch when Kakashi stood in an almost mechanical way, shuffling past him like a mindless edo tensei—the dented hitai-ate was still in his hand.

Kushina grimaced. Minato let out a long sigh.

The scent of distress and worries flooded the room the moment Kakashi disappeared into the bathroom, suffocating the atmosphere and making it so hard to breathe. Kushina strode towards her mate, wrapping her arms around his body and burying her nose into the side of his neck. She exhaled, drowning his distress and worries with her own scent, allowing a deep soothing purr to erupt from her throat. The pounding of his heart relaxed, and his suffocating scent was muted under her comforting one as he was all but melted into her embrace.

Stereotypical belief would say that it was the alpha who shouldered the protective role in a relationship, being the emotionally reserved and the stronger partner between the two.

It was a stupid belief.

"We're going to pile," she decided then, exhaling once more to dull his worries as she nudged him to the path heading to the little room that housed her nest. "All three of us."

Minato jerked, blue eyes widened in pleasant surprise and confusion.

Kushina grinned cheekily.

His surprise wasn't unwarranted. It was an intimate thing—to pile—because it enforced a strong family bond between the participants. Parents did this to their pups, as piling was important to enforce the parental bond with the little ones, to accustom the young ones with the sense of security of the soothing presence of the pack's omega and the protective presence of the pack's alpha. It was a form of emotional therapy—to drown in each other's scent and falling asleep in the pile of tangled bodies and comforting cuddles.

And the best place to do this was at an omega's nest—the little safe haven created for the sole purpose of creating a sense of comfort and safety—of which was nigh hard to be invited in if you're not trusted by said omega.

"You'll allow him inside?" her mate blurted out but did not resist when she pushed him in that direction. "You are not fond of him," Minato tried again, eyeing her with hopeful confusion.

"You promised Sakumo," Kushina smiled, eyes softening. "And I know that he's like your own pup now."

Minato looked like he was torn in between hugging her in a crushing embrace or to break into an ugly sobbing.

Kushina embraced him again, breaking into an amused smile when he finally made up his mind.

"Thank you," he sobbed to her hair.

Ugly sobbing, then.

* * *

Obito's hitai-ate was _cold_.

 _Cold_ , like how Obito's left hand had been the last time Kakashi held it.

 _Cold_ , like how his own chest felt when he had to leave Obito behind and escaped with Rin.

 _Cold_ , like the dull grey stone in the graveyard.

In a sense, it was hilarious.

This grave was empty.

There was nothing underneath!

There was nothing to grieve over.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

But Kakashi grieved.

Had he chosen wrong? He chose to complete the mission first, pushing himself to the point of chakra exhaustion to complete it as quickly as possible before doubling back to rescue Rin and support Obito.

It was supposedly the right choice.

He _knew_ that it was the right choice.

His father abandoned his mission to rescue his teammates and was scorned by the village for it.

Hadn't Kakashi chosen right then? He didn't make the same mistake as his father. He didn't abandon the mission. He didn't completely abandon his friends—he just put them as the lower priority as compared to their mission.

Wasn't that the right choice?

Didn't choosing the opposite resulting in Sakumo being disgraced?

It was logic. It was the most logical situation. Kakashi trusted Obito to survive until he returned to aid the rescue. Obito was the only omega who dared to continuously challenge him, defying their ranks and difference in skills. Kakashi knew if there was anyone he could trust to rescue Rin, it would be Obito. The older boy worked hard, and when his sharingan activated, Kakashi just knew that Obito would be someone far more powerful than the Uchiha, or Konoha, has ever expected him to be.

Kakashi trusted Obito to rescue Rin while he rushed to complete their mission.

Obito trusted Kakashi to complete the mission and come back to aid the rescue.

They parted with that promise—a budding trust of friendship.

Wasn't trusting teammates a part of Konoha's shinobi creed?

"Then, _why_?"

Kakashi sunk to his knees by the grave, pressing his bare forehead to the cold stone.

"What did I do _wrong_?"

Why did the village scorn him?

He completed the mission. He came back for his teammates. He kept his promise to Obito by keeping Rin safe until they reached Konoha.

His father didn't complete his mission and was scorned.

Kakashi completed the mission and was also scorned.

Then, what was the right thing to do?

Why did they wish him dead when he has avoided his father's mistake?

What was the right choice then?

Was not all lives equal? His father's squad had been mainly composed of beta and alpha. Was that the reason? Because Obito was born special? Because he held more value to the village's military power because he could produce stronger shinobi? Was that it?

Was not all humans equal?

"What did I do wrong?" he whimpered, breaking into tears right at Obito's grave.

It hurt. It genuinely hurt him to hear people wishing him dead. He tried to fight it off. Tried to remind himself that his sensei didn't wish death upon him. He knew that Minato loved him. He knew that Kushina has a grudging fondness for him too. Their fondness were genuine. They invited him to a pile tonight.

He hadn't been in a pile ever since his father died.

It almost broke him into tears.

Kushina has wrapped him in a hug, drowning him with her soothing scent—something that was the closest to a mother that he had ever have—while Minato has thrown his arm around their tangled body, tucking Kakashi under his chin and close to his body, wrapping Kushina's soothing comfort with loving protectiveness.

It made Kakashi felt safe.

It comforted him for a little while.

It gave him the illusion of a family.

But then the village's scorns came with vengeance the moment he nodded off to sleep, haunting him with the words of how much of failure he was—of how much he has disgraced his name as a shinobi.

_Dad. Is this how you feel?_

Was this how his father felt?

Should he end it like his father too?

Should he?

Should he?

_Should I?_

The words rang again in his ears, filled with scorns and hatred.

_I should._

Though, before he could do anything, he was halted frozen in front of the grave with a gentle soft voice.

"So much pain, little one."

Kakashi jerked upon hearing that calm voice, hand instinctively reached for his katana, only to scowl when he realised that he was only wearing his sleep clothes when he snuck out of Kushina's nest to visit this graveyard. No weapon in reach, he crouched, readying a defensive jutsu when he looked up to meet the gaze of his companion.

He dropped his defensive stance when he saw the pale lavender eyes.

"Hyuuga-san," he greeted politely, despite the nagging feeling at the back of his head that told him that he has never seen this Hyuuga before.

But then again, the Hyuuga was a big clan. There was a possibility that Kakashi hasn't met _every_ Hyuuga.

Her red painted lips twitched slightly, but her serene expression didn't change.

Kakashi found himself to be transfixed with the presence of his companion.

Under the glowing moonlight, the woman looked like a goddess.

She quirked a smile that softened her pale delicate face, gliding towards him like an ethereal being. She crouched slightly, moving one hand to gently tip his chin up—the tip of her long nails tickled the skin of his jaw. Her thumb brushed over his left eye, just barely touching the flattened socket and Kakashi allowed it, single black eye fixed on her byakugan. He noticed her short rounded brows—a symbol of nobility—and he had to wonder why someone of a high-standing like her would be wandering in the graveyard at this kind of hour without any bodyguard in range. He inhaled deeply, couldn't resist the sweet pleasant scent that came from her pale long hair—oddly almost similar shade of his own hair—and it took an effort to not cave into his urge to nuzzle to her soft palm.

"So much pain," she murmured again, tipping her head, a single trail of tears trickled down her cheek. "So young, yet so tortured," she bent to his level, taking him off guard when she suddenly pulled him into her embrace, effortlessly cradling him to her chest.

Pressed against her chest, Kakashi noticed the sheer luxury of her white kimono and wondered what exactly was her position in the Hyuuga clan to be endowed with such luxury.

He eventually caved into his needs for comfort, burying his face into her neck to inhale her otherworldly scent—so unlike any other scent he has ever smelled on Earth—and he only looked up when she tilted his face up to meet her pale gaze.

"Shall I erase your pain, my dear child?"

Kakashi blinked, mind a hazy cloud though he quirked a tiny smile behind his mask anyway.

Peeking behind her pale hair, the moon shone red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No OP Kakashi this week. We'll back to our OP Kakashi POV next week.BTW, Hiruzen is overthinking. He should stop overthinking before he gets a high blood pressure.
> 
> And, I did hint in the last chapter that I foreshadowed my villain right? Who in the last chapter that was so close to the emotional level of canon Obito was after Rin's death? *wink wink*
> 
> I should probably run from the angry mob who were waving the pitchforks now.


	5. The legends are not all lies, you know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I promise OP Kakashi in this update? Whoops, I guess the plotbunnies overrode his appearance.
> 
> Blame my muse, y'all. It was my birthday and he spent the whole time coming up with ways to upgrade his initial prompts that start this fic.
> 
> My muse is an asshole.
> 
> On a side note, next chapter we might have Obito waking up to the human disaster named Hatake Kakashi. 
> 
> And hopefully Kaguya's POV too if I can fit it in.
> 
> Un-betaed. Cuz I have no patience to wait for a beta to edit this while my mind urged me to upload it as quick as possible.

* * *

The creation of shinobi was the first story that was taught to shinobi children.

A history told as old wives’ tales—dismissed by the civilians yet held dear by the shinobi—a reminder of their origins and roots.

* * *

It started when a star fell onto the Earth.

From the star, grew a tree so powerful it has a will of its own and power so coveted by the humans.

However, any humans that braved the task to conquer the tree never made it back. They were consumed alive, becoming a part of the tree, enslaved for eternity.

So many warriors had tried to conquer the tree, but they all failed.

It wasn’t long before the greed to conquer the tree morphed to fear of the divine. Humanity hailed the tree as a divine power. They set up a shrine for the tree and offered offerings in the form of human sacrifice to appease the tree.

It took a century later for the practice to stop as a goddess graced the Earth with her presence, declaring herself as the guardian of the divine tree.

She was the embodiment of peace—divine and powerful, yet so gentle and serene. The goddess longed for peace among Earthlings. She humbly wandered the Earth, attempting to resolve conflicts between humans. She yearned for peace, gracing the humanity with her prowess in her journey to stop blood from keep spilling into the Earth. She made friends with the mortals, extending a helping hand to those in need, lashing her divine power to those who hurt others and accepting young orphans as her companions in her mission for peace.

But human’s greed was a powerful tool.

The human plotted and planned to conquer the goddess—eyeing her beloved companions and her human husband as their targets—completely unaware that their plot would lead to their own demise.

The greed-driven plot was successful. The goddess lost her companions to the deceitful plot. She didn't even have time to grieve as she was hunted by the man she loved—the father of her unborn child—and was framed for the crime that she didn’t commit.

She was framed as the murderer of her own companions.

Anguished and angered, she committed an act that changed the whole history of mankind.

She ate the fruit of the divine tree and became the sole ruler of the Earth.

Legends have it that she enslaved all humans as a part of the tree, stopping the wars and conflicts altogether as mankind became a part of the divine tree. Her heart grew colder as the years went on—the longing of absolute peace for her children has distorted her, turning the once gentle goddess to a cold cruel empress of the world.

The tale of her cruel rule was passed on in so many versions, yet the gist was the same.

She enslaved mankind as the sustenance for the divine tree and enforced absolute control over the few selected humans that she freed from the enslavement.

She chose the candidates from a diverse group of humans that passed her judgement.

These were the humans who would be less likely to start conflicts. Thus, she freed them to ensure that mankind would not go extinct.

The first batch she freed would later be known as the ancestors of all civilians. They were not held within the tree for long—only for a few decades—thus, when they were freed, they didn't change and remain like the human they once were. They possessed no chakra and were not bestowed with the gifts that the later groups would be given.

Thousands of years later, this group has spread out across the world—the largest group of humans and the only one that was not altered by the divine tree.

The next group that the goddess freed was slightly more gifted. They were held within the tree for a longer period of time—over a century longer than the previous group—thus bestowing them with the gift of chakra, albeit in a small unstable reserve. The manifestation of their chakra depended on their effort to develop their gift, causing that only half of the descendants of this group to be able to become shinobi. 

Thousands of years later, their descendants were the one filling the middle ranks of shinobi village, known as civilian-born shinobi.

It took a few hundreds of years later for the last group of selected humans to be freed from the tree.

They were the last group being freed from the tree before the goddess’ fall. They were freed at the peak of war between humans—a hopeful effort from the goddess that this group would put an end to this pointless war that the humans have started. These were the ancestors of the old clans. The first batch of shinobi that wanders the Earth with their immensely large chakra reserve as well as special kekkei genkai that they have absorbed from the divine tree.

And that was not the only thing gifted to them by the divine tree.

Held within the divine tree for such a long time, this group was altered far beyond the previous group. Their bodies were altered completely—allowing some of their males to beget children while some of their females to impregnate—and they used their massive gifts to end the war with little to no difficulties. They separated after the war, forming clans among people of the same gift as them—their altered biology allowing them to pass down their gifts to their offspring without diluting the power with the blood from the previous group.

They were the powerhouses of the shinobi world—the one who would eventually dominate the shinobi world.

And they also were the one who started the bloodiest war in the history of the world. This was the war that triggered the goddess’s rage, causing her to repeat the history and attempt to enslave the whole world in the divine tree once again.

She was stopped by the hands of her own sons—a sad tragedy between mother and sons.

But that was a tale for another day.

* * *

Rin adored the old tale.

She knew that she was descended from the second group that the goddess has freed, considering that both of her parents were civilians and there was never any alpha or omega that was born in her family tree. A civilian-born shinobi like the old tale described, with nothing entirely special about her at all.

With that said, she never got to experience the depth of the gifts that the descendants of the old clans get to experience.

Civilians were not accustomed to the pack-bond. It was an exclusive privilege that could only be enforced by those who were born with secondary gender like the descendants of the old clans. The pack-bond could only be initiated by either an alpha or an omega—and a beta like her would only be able to taste the privilege if she was marked into a pack.

Obito has marked her first.

At first, she didn't understand the extent of the privilege that he was offering when he asked if he could bond her to him. They were five, and her knowledge of the pack-bond was fairly limited due to the lack of exposure. She knew that it was something that the old clans practised, a unique bond that linked its participants far beyond the boundaries of normal comradeship. It was a bond enforced by trust and blood—a tie of a family even when they were not blood-related—and it was something she has been secretly coveting.

Thus, she offered her wrist to him, giving him her permission to form the pack.

A little nip that pierced her skin, one quick lick of her blood and she was suddenly bombarded with fuzzy waves of emotions that were not hers.

_Family._

That was what he was offering to her.

It was a completely different bond than the one that mates would share—because they were only _five_ and was way too young to initiate a _mating_ bond—but it was a bond. It linked the two of them in what that she could only describe as _family_ —siblings—and Rin was honoured at his trust. She was grateful for this bond.

He has offered his wrist in return, of which she has accepted to complete the ritual.

They have been inseparable ever since.

The bond grew as they were, becoming stronger and closer as the years passed that by the time they graduated from the academy, she was able to feel the echoes of his emotions and could communicate telepathically with him even when he was miles away.

It was useful when used in a team exercise.

Apart, they were weak and average, yet as a pair, they were practically invincible against their peers. Their coordination was perfect because of their bond and they always come to each other’s aide, supporting one another in a perfect team.

But something was still missing. There was a gap in their pack.

Obito was the fiery spirit that drove them forward—wild and unstoppable—while Rin was the merciful compassion that guided his fire from running in an uncontrollable rampant, yet something was still missing. Both of them had their heads up in the clouds—his impossible ambition to become the Hokage and her own goals to secure the Jounin Commander spot—and although that was not wrong, they weren’t exactly the best when it came to keeping their actions from being severely influenced by emotions.

They both knew they needed cool logic to ground them, to keep them level-headed even in the worst situation possible.

They eventually found their missing piece.

Rin’s pack grew.

Kakashi was a tough nut to crack—and was fairly intimidating too—but the young Hatake was their missing piece. The cool logic to Obito's hot-headedness and her gentle kindness. He was the piece that they have been missing all these years.

But Hatake Kakashi was cold and harsh, shielding himself behind the aloof uncaring attitude that made approaching the boy was almost at the same level as an S-ranked mission.

And of course, Obito bulldozed through that shield in an unspoken _challenge accepted._

Obito had managed to crack the Hatake's stoic mask merely days before their Kannabi Bridge mission. Minato has left them to devise their own plans and like usual, the boys had argued and fought not ten minutes after their sensei left. They were disagreeing on their course of action should one of them were abducted, and the argument has escalated to the point that Rin was seriously considering running to Minato to request helps to break them apart.

That was when Kakashi slipped—a tiny crack of his stoic cold demeanour—yet that was all that it took for Obito and Rin to see the boy behind the mask.

It was sad, truly.

Rin has almost forgotten that Kakashi was two years younger than her.

Two years younger, and yet he was already their superior in ranks and shouldered the burden as the Hatake Clan Head.

It almost too easy to forget that he was just a pup.

The broken voice of the last Hatake has stopped Obito mid-argument. He was shaking, dark eyes hidden behind messy silver tresses as both Rin and Obito froze when Kakashi threw that question to them.

_“How is abandoning the mission is the right choice when my father was scorned for doing so?!”_

To be honest, Rin didn't have an answer to that question.

Kakashi was trembling back then—figurative mask shattering to pieces—and he completely broke, weeping so openly when Obito pulled him into a silent embrace.

So many burdens and expectation on such small shoulders.

Rin didn’t even question anything when Obito offered Kakashi his wrist, inviting one more person into their pack. It was not pity—no, Obito would never do that because he wore his heart so openly at his sleeves—and Rin could see that the Uchiha really meant it. He truly meant it for Kakashi to be a part of their pack—their _family—_ the cool grounding agent to their dreamy heads.

Their missing link.

Kakashi was hesitant at first, almost scrambling away with unveiled fear in his dark eyes—and it hurt, because Rin knew why he reacted that way, knew that he has taught himself that a family would only hurt him even more—but Obito showed no signs of backing away, offer still standing, dark eyes stubborn and his fiery spirit unwavering.

Rin has immediately taken Obito’s flank, offering her own wrist to the young alpha.

It felt like this was meant to happen.

The beta that longed to be a part of a pack.

The omega that has never felt belonged.

The alpha that has lost everything.

They were meant to become a pack.

That night, Team 7 became one linked unit.

* * *

They would’ve been a perfect pack that would put Ino-Shika-Cho trio to shame if the Kannabi Bridge debacle didn’t end like how it did.

Even when it only been _days_ since Kakashi became a part of their pack, he managed to coordinate with Obito and Rin. They manipulated their telepathic link to their fullest, keeping tabs on each other even when they were apart. When she was put in that genjutsu and her link to her boys was distorted till all that left was fuzzy waves of their thoughts, Rin was not as terrified as she should. She had clung to the distorted echoes that vaguely felt like an assurance from her pack, attempting to break the genjutsu by following the echoes of Obito's assurance and Kakashi's encouragement. She knew that they have separated—had the vaguest feeling from their distorted link that Kakashi has left to complete the mission since he was the fastest—but now they were moving back in together, attempting to infiltrate the cave to rescue her.

They were close enough for their voice to break through the genjutsu and become crystal clear.

Rin clung to their voices and broke the genjutsu on her own, slipping past her shocked guards to be with her pack.

It was the first time Team 7 truly fought as one unit, back-to-back and perfectly coordinated.

It was fun. It was perfect.

But it ended when Iwa reinforcement came in the form of a fearsome elite squad. Regardless of their perfect coordination, they were still children, with the oldest being Obito who was only fourteen years old and their highest-ranked shinobi was Kakashi, who was only a newly-minted jounin.

Against a whole squad of elite Iwa force, their chances dwindled to a single digit faster than the Yellow Flash could move.

Outnumbered and overpowered, they had focused on retreating to safety, but it was too late by then.

Kakashi lost his left eye. Rin suffered a major gash on her arm.

Obito was _crushed_.

And they had to leave him behind. Obito made them leave, entrusting them with their future as he forced Kakashi to take her to safety. They beat a hasty retreat, moving on pure autopilot because there was no way in hell they could think of anything else but the echoes of _painpainhurtscaredIdontwanttodie_ that resounded from their pack link. It almost halted Kakashi and made him turn around, refusing to leave Obito behind but their fallen friend has yelled at them through the telepathic link, urging them to keep moving.

Obito’s last words to them was a farewell and apology.

Then, the jerk moron blocked them out.

Silence. Utter silence. Rin could only feel Kakashi’s terror in their link and the fuzzy emptiness that was supposed to be Obito. They called out to him, wanting to at least support him until the very end but the silence persisted. They couldn’t feel Obito, couldn’t hear his thoughts, couldn’t even sense a hint or any echoes of his emotions.

Obito completely blocked them out, choosing to die alone.

Rin felt it the exact moment when Kakashi _broke._

Thus, she remained by his side, holding his shattered pieces together because he was all that she has left from her pack. She has lost one member of her pack—she has lost one _brother_ —and she refused to lose another one. She will be there for him. They were going to survive this together and carried Obito’s trust forward.

All hope was gone when she woke to utter silence in her mind, completely alone.

* * *

Rin has lost it.

And Minato didn’t know how to comfort her.

The thirteen-year-old girl has lost all of her bright cheeriness, hands clutching the red hitai-ate tight to her chest, body rocking like she was in a trance as she murmured one word over and over again under her breath.

 _Gone_.

That was the only word that escaped her lips ever since she crashed onto this crime scene.

She bulldozed past the police officers, growling to anyone who dared to stop her—even Minato—and stood frozen in front of the mangled corpse of her last teammate. It wasn’t something that a chuunin like her has never seen, moreover with the fact that they were in the middle of a war, but Rin completely lost it.

She has immediately knelt on the ground and _howled_ in pure sorrow.

There was nothing remotely recognisable in the small mangled charred corpse—nothing that resembled Hatake Kakashi at all—but somehow Rin _knew_.

That was when it dawned to Minato that his students’ sudden perfect coordination was not because they have embraced the meaning of teamwork.

No. They have gone beyond that.

They formed a _pack_.

Which made this even more of a failure on Minato’s part. Rin has parted ways with them last night with an urging squeeze on his wrist, as if wanting to make sure that Minato would truly protect Kakashi while she was not around, and what happened?

Minato blindly accepted Kakashi’s excuse of wanting to go to the toilet and let the pup out of his sight as he fell back to sleep.

He was woken up by Fugaku, who has led him to this scene where a civilian has found a charred corpse right in front of Obito’s grave.

The small corpse was burnt beyond recognition, leaving only small bone fragments for them to investigate. It could have been anyone between the age of ten to twelve, but the blood that tainted the ground has narrowed the list down only to one person.

For once, Minato wished that the Inuzuka’s heightened sense of smell was wrong.

He wished that this blood was not Kakashi’s.

But Tsume has confirmed it, comparing the scent of the blood on the crime scene with the record they had in the shinobi’s database. It was a match to his student’s blood.

It was a match to Kakashi’s blood.

Konoha has lost its last Hatake.

* * *

Something has changed.

Something has _drastically_ changed.

He remembered this mission with crystal-clarity. He remembered the exact moment when Rin would jump in front of his Raikiri in a selfless suicide attempt. He remembered how it happened.

He didn’t remember Minato to be a part of the mission.

He didn’t remember Rin jumping in front of Minato’s Rasengan.

This was not how it was supposed to happen.

But Kakashi didn’t wait to ponder on the idea because he saw the way Minato’s blue eyes widened—the surprise and shock and the ultimate horrified _why?—_ and knew that even with his sensei’s lightning-quick reflexes, it would be already too late to reduce the momentum of the Rasengan before it completely destroyed Rin.

Thus, he tore the dimension open, ripped the air apart to appear right behind Rin and pulled his old teammate into his arms, activating Kamui in an instant. Minato passed through both of them and skidded to a halt a few metres away, Rasengan crashing onto the lake, creating a massive wet explosion.

Kakashi’s nose twitched when he smelled blood from the girl in his arms.

He looked down, hands already glowing green to heal whatever injury that she has suffered but there was none. The mingled scent of blood came from her red hitai-ate, which was oddly deformed. The typically blue fabric has turned dark red from dried blood and the right side of the metal plate was dented beyond repair.

It wasn't like Rin to use a broken item like this.

Though, there was no time to ponder. Minato has stood from his unexpected crash, chest heaving with heavy breaths and eyes still widened in horrified shock. Kakashi watched in awed wonder and horror when Minato collapsed onto his knees, trembling as tears escaped his eyes.

“Oh, god,” he choked out, looking at Kakashi with tearful grateful eyes. “Thank you,” he croaked, getting on his feet again to stagger towards Kakashi. “Thank you so much. If you didn’t—”

The rest of the words disappeared to horrified sobs from the infamous Yellow Flash.

Kakashi has never seen Minato so brokenly relieved.

He also has never seen Rin so cold and unresponsive.

What had happened?

What has _changed_?

“You shouldn’t put your own blood on your teammate’s hands,” he said, masking his confusion with the stern tone of a superior, levelling his gaze towards Rin, wanting her to know because he didn’t get the chance to say this to _his_ Rin, never got the chance to ask her if she truly hated him to let him live the rest of his life seeing her blood on his hands. “You’ll break them.”

_Like how it breaks me._

No response. She only stared up at him, brown eyes cold.

It was like Rin was dead inside.

“Rin?” Kakashi called, now was getting concerned.

“If I live, this seal will be broken the moment I reached Konoha and unleash the Sanbi on my village,” she eventually said, flat and emotionless, her hand reaching up to touch her hitai-ate. “And I rather die than destroying the village that my pack fought for.”

Mismatched eyes of blue and green widened as Kakashi tried to digest that.

Something has drastically changed.

It felt like Rin has no care for Konoha at all. Like she was fighting as Konoha’s shinobi for someone else’s sake.

“Rin,” Minato murmured, hesitant even when he reached out to pull her into his arms. He looked up to meet Kakashi’s eyes through the eye holes of the mask, lips quirking to a smile when his gaze darted to the silver tresses that framed the blank white mask. “Thank you, Sakumo-san.”

Kakashi froze in yet another round of ultimate what the fuck.

Last time he interfered mid-battle, Shikaku had called him with his father’s name, and now Minato too?

What has driven the powerful jounin of Konoha to come to the conclusion that he was his father even when Sakumo was hundred percent dead?

“I’m sorry,” Minato murmured, evading his mismatched gaze now. “I’m truly sorry,” the blond man has straight-up whimpered, clutching Kakashi’s dark cloak with one hand. “Please forgive me.”

Kakashi didn’t know how to react.

He was so horribly confused and baffled.

But then he felt his clone popped, alerting him of the incoming Kiri-nin. The alert promptly pulled him back into mission mode. He didn’t give any indicator that he was interested in Minato’s words as he knelt in front of Rin. He wanted to know, yes, but the Kiri squad was nearing closer to their location and he rather not kill them to protect his old teammates. It would go against his effort as the neutral party who kept sabotaging the war.

Kakashi needed to fix this seal and get both of his sensei and Rin to safety. He allowed his eyes to morph to sharingan, pointedly ignoring Minato’s soft hitch of surprised breath and focused his attention on Rin, only to restrain a relieved breath when he saw no signs of puppet seal being placed on her. It gave him an assurance that Madara's influence on this war was not like it was the first time around. Now, all that he should do was to fix the seal on Rin's body.

Rin, who looked like she couldn’t care less if Kakashi was going to kill her.

Instead of reasonably panicking, she stared into his sharingan with dead eyes, not even flinching when he reached his hand towards her middle where he could feel the seething thrum of Sanbi’s chakra.

The Sanbi’s chakra felt _violent_ and angry—so powerful yet so full of hatred—that Kakashi briefly wondered if he has made a good call with this one.

Though, before he could doubt his own plan, there was a tug in his mind and he suddenly was made to remember the Fourth Ninja War. He remembered the way Naruto spoke of the Kyuubi with fondness and remembered the way his bright student has treated all nine gigantic bijuu like they were friends.

And the nine of them treated Naruto like the boy was their friend. Even Shukaku, although the Sand Beast did it in his grumpy arrogant way.

The bijuu considered Naruto as their friend.

These bijuu have names. They have feelings just like a human would.

They were alive—far more than a monster that Kakashi has initially thought.

And if there was a fragment of the Rin that he remembered in this dead-eyed girl, perhaps bonding with the Sanbi could bring that girl back.

What was the Sanbi’s name again?

Kakashi didn’t have to wait long before his delusion supplied the answer.

 _“Isobu_.” Naruto’s voice was fond and loving, echoing in Kakashi’s mind. _“His name is Isobu.”_

“Isobu,” Kakashi repeated, eyes crinkled to an eye-smile behind the wooden mask. “The Sanbi’s name is Isobu.”

He swore he felt the bijuu's chakra jolted under his palm as if the Sanbi himself was surprised.

Rin blinked, taken aback, though it was worth it because Kakashi saw a flicker of life in her eyes.

“What?” she blurted out, flinching when he planted his hand firm on her sealed abdomen.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

“The bijuu is alive,” he said, weaving his chakra into her seal, fixing the broken seal. “They are not monsters. They are just like us—they have feelings and their own personality,” he retreated to form a handsign, looking up to meet her bewildered gaze. “Humanity is the one who makes them the monsters of our fear.”

With that, he drove his chakra-coated hands onto her seal, replicating the seal that he has seen on Naruto onto Rin’s body.

Rin spasmed, coughing in pain and Kakashi casually tilted his head when a kunai was angled to his throat within a split second.

“What did you do?!” Minato growled, reaching a hand to push Rin behind him, blue eyes glaring death as he met Kakashi’s mismatched gaze.

“Fixing her seal,” Kakashi answered in a happy hum, phasing through the kunai so that he could pull Rin into a hug.

Minato didn't look convinced, eyes narrowing in wariness as he followed Kakashi's movements.

“His name is Isobu,” he murmured to her ear. “Reach out to him, Rin. I know that you two could be the best of friends.”

_Just like Naruto and Kyuubi._

With that, he tugged Minato and transported them both into Konoha’s territory, disappearing into Kamui before any of them could blink.

Kakashi didn’t know what has changed, but at least the tiny smile he saw on Rin’s face as she caressed her stomach told him that at least, one of the changes would be for the better.

Nohara Rin, jinchuuriki of Isobu, honestly sounded like a wonderful title for his old friend.

As for the Kiri-squad, they arrived at an empty calm lake with no Yellow Flash or the Sanbi container in sight, only to be greeted with a note that was pinned on a rock with a kunai. The note was infuriatingly simple that it made the squad leader spurt literal foam out of his mouth in pure rage.

Said note only contained three simple sentences and signed with the now accursed name, complete with little heart doodles;

_Ooops. No fight today. Sorry, not sorry. – Ghost_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Kakashi is a troll anti-war entity.
> 
> Man, the Go-Kage would be greying early because of him.
> 
> As for the young Kakashi, hold your tears. He is not dead, just losing a whole lot of blood. 
> 
> And if you wondered why he was so detached and didn't bring up his pack in last chapter, friendly reminder that he was still in shock, and has only been in the pack for not more than two weeks, tops. He is using denial as a coping mechanism. Reminding himself that Obito was one of his packmates, a brother that he has lost, would hurt him even more than when he deluded himself into thinking that he lost a friend. He is trying to cope, but shit happens.
> 
> P/s: Thank you for everyone who wished me happy birthday last week~!


	6. God damn it, everyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My family just randomly dropped the "Pack up. We're going on a trip" thing during family dinner.
> 
> So, I'm uploading this weekend's update today. Next update would take longer, which is on the next weekend. Hopefully.
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy New Year y'all. Enjoy.

That foolish fox.

Kaguya pursed her lips, staring out to the serene scenery of her ice palace, all the while attempting to not be annoyed at the slight chill that has penetrated her skin.

She wouldn’t have this mortal weakness if she was in her original body.

She wouldn’t even need to bother herself finding a perfect tool to help her gain victory if she was in her original body.

But the foolish Kyuubi no Kitsune has ruined everything that she was supposed to achieve.

If the fox didn’t interfere, she would’ve achieved her goals in a blink of an eye. Humanity would no longer be fighting in this useless, stupid war. Instead, they would be safe in the divine tree, living the life of their dreams and would no longer suffer any pain or hurt from losing the ones they love.

If only Kyuubi didn’t interfere.

It would've been perfect. The boys that reminded her of her beloved traitorous sons would be transported into an alternate dimension—and they wouldn't even suffer long, because Kaguya has fully intended to send them to that one alternate timeline in the multiverse plane that was about to be erased from existence. If she had managed to send the boys there, they would die painlessly while she could go on saving the people of her universe from themselves.

However, the Kyuubi has interfered, desperately redirecting her handsign to the one that would combine her and the Juubi’s husk together before attempting to send _her_ to the fading alternate universe.

The foolish fox has intended to let both Kaguya and the Juubi’s husk to be erased together with the disappearing timeline.

It was a risky move.

It didn’t work as planned.

Instead, Kyuubi’s interference has shattered both timelines and remoulded the original timeline with the fading one together to become a new universe that was the mix of the two. The Juubi’s husk was erased in the process to form the new universe, being consumed as an energy source and later exploded to cause another anomaly that was not supposed to happen.

Not only that the Kyuubi has accidentally rewritten the timeline, but he also has sent them all back in time where everything that led towards the war that prompted her return began.

Everyone from the original timeline was thrown back to merge with their counterpart in the new one. They became one with their own self in this newly-created universe, completely oblivious on how close it was for them to be rescued from their own bloodlust back in the original timeline.

As for Kaguya, she has woken up in a coffin.

It deeply displeased her to discover that instead of sealing her like how it was in the original timeline, her traitorous sons have driven their swords through their mother's heart, killing her counterpart of this timeline. Hagoromo and Hamura have kept her corpse in a tomb built on the moon to avoid her body from being looted, before they left their mother—the Kaguya of this timeline—to rest in peace on the moon for eternity.

When she was thrown into this rewritten timeline, her soul didn’t merge with her counterpart because Ootsutsuki Kaguya of this new timeline has died thousands of years ago at the hands of her own sons.

The tome detailing the events of the fall of the goddess was left in the tomb, right at the feet of the coffin that Kaguya has woken up in, written in Hamura’s grieving hands and illustrated with Hagoromo’s loving touch.

Kaguya didn’t know why she took the tome with her as she returned to Earth to regain what that was rightfully hers.

It didn’t matter. She has a goal to accomplish.

She needed more than Zetsu this time. She needed more tools to secure her victory. Her powers were significantly less than the last time—closer to when she first arrived on Earth rather than when she was at her prime as the sole empress of the Earth.

As for Zetsu’s main puppet, she considered them as completely useless.

(Not that she was going to stick to that failure of a plan anyway.)

That Madara brat was practically useless, if the last war was any indicator. There was too much greed and lust for power inside him, something that Kaguya didn't appreciate to exist in her tool.

That’s why she finished him off and took his single remaining sharingan.

She needed the power of the sharingan in her side. She still had a small fragment of her rinnegan sharingan in her possession, but she wasn’t able to use it to its fullest extent because her current body didn’t possess the third eye.

It was a good thing that she has Madara's eye and her new son conveniently has lost an eye.

Oh, she knew who this boy was. She has seen his adult self during the last battle—so fearless and loyal, so willing to die for the one that he cared for, as proven when he jumped in front of the Uchiha boy and protected that arrogant brat from her lethal attack without any hesitation.

It wasn’t a blind devotion like how Zetsu worshipped her, but it was something far stronger than that.

Zetsu hid under her sleeves back in the last war. Useless and pathetic.

(Of course, she didn't tell him that. He still has a purpose to serve.)

She didn’t care much about it back then, possessing infinite divine power herself, but now that her power wasn’t as it was like when she has consumed the chakra fruit, she needed a better son to fight alongside her.

She needed a son that wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself or pushed himself beyond his limits for her.

Someone like the young Hatake Kakashi.

Hatake Kakashi owned something that Zetsu didn’t.

She has seen his mind upon the first touch. It was truly heartbreaking, to look into the depth of his mind and seen what he has suffered through. He was the embodiment of her reasons to enslave all of humanity in the chakra tree. This pointless war has taken too much from him—his mother, his father, his pack brother and his own self—plunging him into a constant state of deep grief and self-hate. His soul was tormented with grief, regret and sorrow—too much pain held in such a small body—but yet he was still strong and stubborn to continue living and fight for the one he cherished.

That was the ultimate devotion rooted from love.

This was what Zetsu was lacking.

Love, the greatest power on Earth.

And to earn that devoted love for her disposal, she has to create a bond with him—a bond that would be strong enough for him to serve her with unwavering loyalty.

Knowing his history and seeing his mind, she knew exactly how to gain his devotion.

Hatake Kakashi has never had a mother after all.

With that in mind, Kaguya glided towards the small curled up form in the ice bed, sitting by the edge of the bed and gently placed his head on her lap. She pulled the thick sheets over his shoulders, tucking in the edges around him until he resembled a sushi roll more than anything else. The blood loss has made him deathly pale, but it was a necessary thing to do to keep the pesky Konoha shinobi from hunting him down.

She didn't need that kind of distraction.

Thus, she has sacrificed one of her White Zetsu for the cause, fabricating his death by having the White Zetsu to replicate his body. The White Zetsu could replicate a human body so flawlessly when provided with appropriate DNA, but it wasn’t able to duplicate the scent of human’s blood down to the finest detail. Thus, she has no choice but to use his own blood to complete the façade.

The child was completely unconscious by the time she left his faux corpse on the pool of blood in the graveyard.

And he hasn't woken up since, though he did whimper and cried out so miserably in his sleep, trembling in the hovel of the thin mattress and piled blankets, looking all like a hurt sick child he actually was. 

Such a sad, poor child.

Kaguya traced her fingers over his bandaged eye, feeling the thrum of power from the mix of her rinnegan sharingan and Madara's sharingan, even under the layers of the white fabric strips. The eye was fitting in so beautifully in his body, a fact that prompted her to quirk a satisfied smile. She then trailed her hand lower, resting over his heaving chest to feel his chakra. It was weak and reasonably depleted, unable to handle the strain of the powerful rinnegan sharingan.

That wouldn’t do at all. She needed her tool to be at its top shape.

Thus, Kaguya leant down, aligning her lips with his own—her painted lips hovered millimetres above his pale bluish lips—as she directed a tiny fragment of her chakra into his mouth, forcing his mouth shut when she has transferred enough to him.

She would take it later when he has completely served his purpose, but for now, he could keep it.

Kaguya planted a hand on his feverish cheek, smiling as she felt his chakra reserve expanded to a state that was large enough to accommodate his newly transplanted eye without hindrances. She ran her thumb over the soft skin to wipe the tears that trickled down his cheeks, planting her lips on his forehead and kept it pressed on the feverish skin for a few seconds.

He let out a soft tiny whimper, unconciously clinging to her.

Kaguya cradled him closer in her embrace.

Her free hand cradled his head—magenta glow illuminated his silver tresses, invading his mind to rearrange his memories and severing the ties and attachments that he still had within him.

He wouldn't be needing that anymore. The only attachment he should have is for her alone.

She would be the centre of his life. 

Kaguya hushed him when he choked and gasped in his sleep, her thumbs continued to wipe the tears that were still wetting his cheek even as he opened his unbandaged eye and blinked blearily at her.

She quirked a gentle loving smile.

Kakashi gave her a dazed relieved smile, small hands reached out to cling to her body in pure desperation as he buried his face to the crook of her neck, voice hoarse with emotions when he croaked a soft;

“Mom.”

* * *

It should be worrying that Kakashi didn’t even bat a lash when he stepped into Kamui and smelled _blood_.

It should be worrying, but by this point, Kakashi was already so immune to the weirdness that seemed to be rolling into his path on daily basis now.

Trapped in the body that was a mix of his own and his students? Yeah, weird, but still manageable.

Hearing the voices of his lost (and presumed deceased) students actively chattering and running commentaries on his actions inside his head? Whatever. They kept him company and were super useful when he needed help or extra opinion.

Being sent back in time to the darkest period of his life? Good. There are few people he needed to rescue anyway.

Receiving power upgrades in the form of his students' attributes? No need to panic. Pack up and go on a training trip in Uzushio.

Being guided into a maze of underground passage beneath Uzushio’s ruin that store the summoning scroll to the great ancient wolf? Not a problem. He needed a summon anyway.

Having a puppy randomly dropped into his care, with a stern clarification from its mother that this cute little short-legged puppy ninken was specialised for emotional therapy and medical ninjutsu instead of for combat? Whatever. It’s a freakin puppy. He _loves_ puppies.

Interfering with one of the darkest moments in his life only to find out that something has changed so drastically without his knowledge, even when he has sent scouts to keep watch on his former team? Keep a cool-head, Hatake. You have backup plans. Keep calm and cook up your counter-measure.

Stepping into Kamui—that was supposedly impossible to be intruded unless one has Obito's sharingan—and smelled the familiar scent of fertile blood in the air? No problem. He could deal with this—

No. He could not deal with this.

He has been actively trying to forget what he discovered about Obito’s body for this past month.

It's not because he was an ignorant bastard that refused to acknowledge that, but it was because his mind was so rotten with the porn he used to read back when he was in his adult body that his now (unfortunately) raging teenage hormones started to create active scenarios to accommodate his wild hormones.

Scenarios, in which he explored the sheer weirdness of Obito’s new biology with the steamy bits inspired from Icha Icha as the side dish.

Kakashi considered installing a shower in Kamui because he needed a cold shower right _now_.

God damn it.

He hated going through puberty again. The last time he did, he had survived the worst of it by being a cold merciless assassin. It was hard to think of anything R-rated about your cute friend when said friend was dead and you kinda killed your other friend, which eventually caused you to end up as one lonely miserable ball of angst.

Oh, not to mention that his daily job slaughtering unsuspecting enemies of Konoha back then also made it difficult to indulge in that raging teenage hormones.

But now…

“Ugh,” Kakashi moaned, resisting the urge to bludgeon his own head at the nearest cube because that was stupid and awfully counterproductive to the situation.

He already has been hearing his students inside his head. He didn't need to add more insanity to that.

Killing everyone in the battlefield would be counterproductive to his recent efforts sabotaging the war too, right?

God damn it.

_He is your friend. He is your friend. He is your friend. Don’t be a creep—_

_“But you do think that he is cute, though.”_

Kakashi swore.

God damn it, Naruto.

There was no response, like usual, but Naruto’s random candid comment at least managed to reel his unsavoury thoughts back into the shame basement of his mind, so that was actually something to be grateful for. Kakashi breathed in carefully, hoping the scent of blood to shift to something that would scream _injuries_ instead of a natural occurrence, but the world hated him, thus the scent remained the same.

Of all the things he could imagine happening, this was not one of it.

Kakashi cursed his sensitive nose. Normal people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the blood, but he was Hatake, okay? Still partly Hatake in this mixed up body. He could differentiate the scent so easily—the familiar scent of fresh blood from injuries versus the more fertile blood he usually would only smell once a month whenever one of his kunoichi friends or female genins were in his olfactory sensory range when they had this kind of natural occurrence of their biology.

He was already aware of the strange fact that his friend somehow possessed a womb. It would be stupid to not assume that the sheer weirdness did not come in full package.

Not that it was anything wrong. Menstruation was perfectly normal for people who owned a womb. It was the sign of a healthy human. It was normal.

 _But Obito is a guy,_ he reminded himself.

 _“But he also has a womb_ ,” imaginary Sakura retorted.

Somehow, Kakashi swore he could hear Naruto’s howling laughter and Sasuke’s silent sniggers.

Ugh. Usually, he would adore the timing of his hallucinations, but he was sort of internally freaking out right now, so no, he was not okay with his delusion’s timing at all.

 _Nope. Nope. Nope._ His mind chanted.

 _“Yes. Yes. Yes.”_ Imaginary Sakura and Naruto countered, cheering. “ _Yessssss!”_

_“Hn.”_

_Not you too, Sasuke. God damn it._

Kakashi could feel his brain combusted in complete malfunction.

Nope. Don’t know how to deal with this. Nope. Nope. Nope.

God damn it.

Obito was still in a coma, so leaving his friend alone to deal with _this_ on his own was out of the question. On the other hand, how the hell would Kakashi deal with this when he has zero knowledge on what the females in his life did during this time of the month? He didn't dare to ask them back then (despite his own boredom-induced curiousity) because Kushina would never let him live it down, Kurenai would probably shriek and bust a hole in his skull with an exploding tag, Anko would definitely torture him for daring to ask, Hana would unleash literal hell hounds on his ass and asking Sakura would be downright creepy because she was his _student_ that was more than half his age.

Why oh why he suddenly had the sense that Sakura just rolled her eyes at him?

Then, his brain was bombarded with memories and knowledge that were definitely _not_ his own.

God damn it.

_TMI, Sakura._

Imaginary Sakura giggled.

Kakashi ignored his heating cheeks as he sauntered towards Obito’s makeshift cot.

Professional. Yes, he needed to be professional. _Medic and patient. Medic and patient. Medic and patient—_

_“Where does the blood come out from though?”_

Kakashi almost tripped on his own feet.

God damn it, _Sakura._

* * *

Minato knew that something was off.

His first student was murdered right behind the gates of Konoha where it was supposed to be the safest place for all Konoha citizens. Further investigation on whatever that remained of Kakashi's corpse has revealed a fragment of a blade in that busted small skull, resulting in the post-mortem report to conclude that Kakashi was struck down from behind with a katana before he was burnt to a near-ash state.

The blow was enough to slice through the small skull all the way down to the centre of the forehead, thus enforcing the idea that it was a skilled shinobi who has committed this cruel act. The fact that Kakashi was burnt to a near-ash state has narrowed down the suspect list to someone who was capable of high-ranked Katon jutsu.

Since the suspect didn’t even bother to get rid of the evidence, the forensic team has assumed that this was an impulsive, unplanned crime.

A crime of passion, if one would conclude.

It should be a clean-cut investigation.

And what a wonderfully delightful surprise it was when a deeper investigation of the blade fragment revealed that it was from an Uchiha-specialised katana.

So straightforward.

Yet something still felt off.

Fugaku has hurried to gather his people at the revelation of the new evidence, allowing the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio to conduct the investigation on his clan members to avoid any conflict of interests.

Needless to say, the Uchiha wasn’t pleased with the investigation process, but Fugaku has asserted his authority, rendering all of them to submit to the investigation peacefully.

Minato knew something was terribly off when out all of the Uchiha who didn't have an alibi during the time of the crime, Uchiha Setsuna was one of them.

The feeling worsened when Setsuna was the only one who fit the suspect profile that they have built from the evidence.

It was too perfect of a fit.

Setsuna has conveniently lost his sword when asked to give it up for the investigation, thus increasing the suspicion on him even when he protested and defended himself by saying that he has left it in his weapon closet before he went to sleep and the sword has vanished when he woke up.

Setsuna lived alone at the outskirts of Uchiha compound, thus leaving him with no witness to testify and confirm that he has indeed spent the whole night sleeping off his headache and not out murdering a grieving eleven-year-old.

Setsuna has a strong motive against Kakashi, as proven from his lack of hesitance to challenge Minato—Namikaze Minato, mind you, who was the freaking Yellow Flash that has ‘flee on sight' order across all five nations—literally a day before Kakashi was murdered.

Setsuna also was a skilled jounin that was specialised in kenjutsu, and like all Uchiha, he was very proficient in Katon jutsu, including the one that has been suspected as the jutsu used to burn Kakashi to an unrecognisable pile of bone fragments and ashes.

Uchiha Setsuna fit the suspect profile like a perfect puzzle piece.

And _that_ was what that bothered Minato the most.

* * *

“God damn it, Obito.”

Okay, that was totally unfair for his very comatose friend, but who else was Kakashi going to curse? He has exhausted his swear vocabularies on Kyuubi before. He has sworn at his students' names even when the delusions of their voices _laughed_ at his utter misery. Now that he has ran out of curses to insult the mercilessly-howling-with-laughter imaginary voices in his head, Obito was the only one he has yet to curse.

And this was kinda Obito’s fault too. Kakashi wouldn’t be in such an awkward position like this if Obito woke the fuck up before his completely normal yet utterly bizarre biological cycle started.

Not even once in this month since he was thrown into this weird predicament—spending his time juggling between taking care of Obito, sabotaging the war and hunting Madara—that Kakashi was forced into this kind of stressful situation.

This was oddly stressful.

On one hand, he couldn’t let Obito bleed all over himself. That couldn’t be possibly hygienic, because even with Kakashi utter lack of knowledge on this, he was not stupid enough to not be able to come up with that conclusion. That was kinda the most logical assumption to make after all.

On the other hand, if he was to follow the horrifyingly detailed guidance that imaginary Sakura has bombarded him with earlier, that would mean that he has to completely strip Obito and—

Nope.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

He managed to find a way to keep the boundary of modesty intact between the both of them throughout this whole month—even when he gave Obito the daily sponge bath—and he wasn't ready to break that boundary. Nope. It wouldn't be much of a problem if this was _his_ Obito—you know, the psychotic adult one who started the Fourth Shinobi War—because if that was the case, Kakashi wouldn’t mind as much because that Obito was older than him. No big deal. They were both at the same age range. A little bit of blatant nudity was not a strange thing among shinobi.

But this Obito….

Nope.

Just the thought that he was mentally twenty-eight and this Obito still looked like a brat made the idea of stripping his friend completely naked felt just as wrong as being aroused whenever he saw a twelve-year-old Naruto or Konohamaru pulled that accursed Sexy no jutsu.

_“I knew it! I knew it! You’re affected too—ha!”_

_Shut up, Naruto. Yes, I’m affected. Not a surprise there. Women and men are equally attractive to me. Now, shush._

_“But, Kaka-sensei—”_

Kakashi rolled his eyes at imaginary Naruto’s sulky tone.

Now that he thought about it, it was kinda weird that these voices only grew louder and more active since the past month instead of disappearing from his mind like his imaginary Obito all the way back then.

_“That’s because you’re one lonely miserable fuck.”_

_“Sasuke-teme! Don’t be so rude.”_

Kakashi let out a long sigh.

Though, he probably shouldn't compare the two. Imaginary Obito only repeated the words that Obito has spoken to him from his own memories, not actively initiating a conversation like his imaginary students.

Fuck. He was really insane, huh?

Kakashi wanted to bang his head to the nearest cube with the hope that it would silence the voices in his head.

God damn it.

 _“You can’t let him bleed everywhere,”_ imaginary Sasuke pointed out so unhelpfully. _“Come on, Kakashi,”_ he coaxed, voice dripping with evil amusement. _“Be a good friend and help him.”_

Kakashi had this slightest hunch that Sasuke truly enjoyed his misery—that sadistic brat.

But the asshole brat did have a point.

There was a tiny bark from the puppy that was given into his care, and Kakashi found his nervousness immediately been soothed as he watched the short-legged puppy licked on Obito’s wrist. The tiny puppy jumped in place when Kakashi finally moved from his spot near the cot, seemingly happy that his new master is finally going to do something about this. The little ball of fluff trotted towards him, clamping Kakashi's sleeves in his mouth and proceeded to tug him closer to the comatose Uchiha. The puppy then sat by the floor next to Obito’s hips, tail wagging as he stared expectantly at Kakashi.

God damn it. Now his supposed cute puppy was out against him too?

Kakashi braced himself, determined to get this done and over with as quick as possible.

Of course his rotten luck would make a guest appearance the moment he has situated himself between Obito's legs and was about to quickly deal with the bleeding mess his friend has become.

There was a slight movement from his friend and Kakashi immediately froze in shock, mismatched eyes widened when Obito's eyes fluttered open blearily. He watched, entranced when his friend blinked in a confused daze, only to internally swear when the dark eyes shifted to meet his mismatched gaze.

Obito’s eyes immediately widened before his gaze darted to the very compromising position Kakashi has put himself in.

_Fuck._

Imaginary Sasuke burst to mad unhinged laughter.

“Wait, I can explain—” Kakashi started.

Obito wasn’t listening.

“PERVERT!!”

Kakashi was too stunned and embarrassed to react when that slender leg round-kicked him straight in the face, sending him sprawled back onto the bleak ground. He then took a full minute to snap out of his dazed state, one arm levering his body up while the other hand clutched his throbbing—probably cracked—jaw as he blinked stupidly at his enraged, flushed friend.

That actually hurt a lot.

Obito had a mean kick, especially for someone who was just woken up from a month-long coma.

Imaginary Sasuke sounded too hysterical to be sympathetic when he commented;

_“Ouch.”_

Cue the mad unhinged laughter again.

God damn it, Sasuke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might be heading into the serious territory as both Kakashi are going to make their move and be more actively involved against each other.
> 
> Or it might be a light-hearted chapter between Obi and Kaka.
> 
> With me, you'll never know~
> 
> And y'all know what is going to happen if Setsuna was framed as Kakashi's murderer.
> 
> #Konoha_CivilWar
> 
> P/s: Any dog people out there? What name is good for cute Corgi ninken? I'm a cat person and most of my cats are named after demonic or youkai names, which I didn't think would fit to a cute hyper Corgi that just wanted his new master to stop being such a human disaster.


	7. Why is my life like this? - Kakashi, probably

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoooooo this inn has wonderful Wi-Fi I kid you not. I'm having a blast.
> 
> And I got so inspired being surrounded by nature that I decided that this chapter is gonna be a New Year gift to all of you instead of next week's update.
> 
> God, I could never stick to the plan. This is supposed to be Setsuna-Minato-Fugaku centric chapter, but then Team Minato wanted the spotlight, so this chapter is dedicated for Kakashi,Rin and Obito instead.

* * *

Obito first woke to tiny licks on his cheek and a cool soothing wave of chakra on his right shoulder.

He has opened his eyes then, blinking blearily—feeling oddly tired and sluggish—only to meet wide golden eyes staring back at him. He blinked, so very tired to make sense of everything even when there was wetness touching his cheek, damp little thing that nudged his cheek as if urging him to wake up. The touch was followed by a tiny annoyed huff.

But he was so very tired.

Obito wanted to sleep.

He didn't fight the urge as everything faded back into darkness. 

* * *

The second time he woke, he lasted long enough to make out the face of his companion.

He returned to consciousness with a gentle huff near his ear and that soothing wave of relief again—this time on the right side of his chest—and he slowly opened his eyes, blinking in confusion at the dark ceiling and floating grey cubes scattered throughout the area.

_Where am I?_

There was a happy woof and warm breath right next to his ear and Obito tilted his head, feeling the strains of that sluggish movement more than he would appreciate, only to come nose to muzzle with a very happy-looking puppy.

The little ball of fluff barked happily, tail wagging in joy, though the glowing paws didn’t move from his chest.

_Glowing…paws…?_

Obito tried to remain awake, tried to make sure if he really was seeing what he thought he saw—because he has never seen any ninken capable of medical ninjutsu before—but his body felt heavy and sluggish, and his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

He was terribly exhausted.

Obito vaguely felt a nip on his wrist as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

The third time he woke, he was slightly more aware than the previous times yet still so sore and sluggish.

He has woken up to a husky crooning voice and that happy bark again.

“Who’s a good boy~?” the voice crooned, laughing when his words were answered with delightful barks. “Yes, Fuwa-chan. Yes, you’re the good boy.”

Obito was vaguely reminded of Kakashi—specifically, that one time he and Rin caught the little tyke playing with a stray dog. The small Hatake has literally rolled all over the ground with the puppy, of which up until this day, Obito and Rin have yet to decide which one of the two was the cutest.

Thus, he rolled his eyes in the direction of that voice—too tired to move—only to see the backside of someone with a long curtain of spiky silver hair as said person rolled around on the grey ground, tickling the happy-looking puppy, completely oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.

Obito gave in to his exhaustion with the thought of Bakashi and that stray dog, slipping back into unconsciousness accompanied by the fading domestic noise of the crooning husky voice and that happy barks.

* * *

The fourth time he woke, however, was different from the previous times.

He woke up to a gentle hold around his thighs and that alone was enough to trigger his survival instinct, jolting his sluggish brain to extreme fight-or-flight reaction. He tensed and opened his eyes, blinking blearily at the now familiar dark ceiling and floating grey cubes before he shifted his gaze to meet the eyes of the person that might have been attempting to rape him.

Obito blinked, taking in the gaping face of the person that was between his legs. It took Obito off-guard, because he was expecting a full-grown alpha that would probably smirk smugly at him, not the one that looked horribly guilty and didn’t even seemed to be that much older than Obito himself. The mismatched blue and green eyes widened with utter embarrassment while those pale cheeks flushed to deep pink, mouth gaping in shock.

But before Obito could digest the odd expression of that totally didn’t fit in with the situation at all, he felt the hands on his thighs tightened just briefly and his survival instinct kicked in again. His eyes widened, cheeks started to flush hot in anger upon realising that this person has indeed tried to take advantage of him.

“Wait, I can explain—!”

Like hell he was going to listen.

Obito forced his leg to move, overpowering the sluggishness and soreness of his body with the sheer willpower of wanting to defend himself as he enhanced his weak leg with whatever remains of chakra he has before he round-kicked the alpha right in the face, yelling;

“PERVERT!”

He didn’t even regret it when his leg dropped onto the futon like a dead weight and a jolt of searing pain flashed up his body from that limb.

It was worth it.

The little puppy—Fuwa-chan?—rolled its bright golden eyes and trotted towards Obito, placing those cute soft paws on his throbbing limb. Those paws then glowed green and soothing relief immediately washed over Obito’s leg.

“Owh,” the alpha moaned—sounding so terribly pathetic—as he turned around to meet Obito’s livid gaze, hand glowing green over his jaw. “I swear I wasn’t doing what you think I was doing,” he mumbled, shifting his gaze away from meeting Obito’s.

That was not convincing at all.

Obito clutched his blanket tighter and was about to back away if not because of Fuwa-chan’s stern press over his thigh. The puppy looked up at him with bright golden eyes, shaking its head as if warning him against moving.

To trust the dog or not trust the dog?

Fuwa-chan gave him a flat unimpressed look.

“Then, what the hell are you trying to do?” Obito finally decided to trust the dog, allowing the glowing paws to continue soothing his thigh as he remained on the futon.

Yet, Obito didn’t let his guard down, tugging the blanket higher up his body when he realised that he was only wearing a baggy oversized dark shirt that oddly smelled so similar yet different to his own scent.

He didn’t recall owning any shirts this huge.

Obito was snapped out of his pondering when the strange alpha (who looked like he could’ve been Kakashi’s illegitimate older brother with that silver hair and high cheekbones, which was sort of freaking Obito out now that he finally noticed it) shifted on his feet and hunched his shoulders, cheeks flushed a deep pink.

“Trying to keep you from bleeding all over your own bed,” the silver-hair mumbled, pointedly staring at the very not interesting cube floating above their heads.

Obito blinked.

_Whhhhaaaaattttt?_

“I’m not bleeding...?” he questioned, because the only hurting part of his body was his leg, and that leg was not bleeding at all—

That was when he felt it. The unpleasant tattle-tale drip that trickled down his thighs.

_Oh, hell._

“GET OUT!” he shrieked, throwing his pillow at the blushing alpha, his own cheeks now flushed deep red in embarrassment rather than anger.

Fuwa-chan snorted.

* * *

Warmth.

Warm bright light spilt from the window onto his face, the birds were singing just outside the window—pleasant music to his ear—and it was such a perfect morning that Kakashi refused to wake up. He scrunched up his nose, lips curled to a sulky pout as he rolled around to curl on his side, sulking against the sunlight.

_“Pup?”_

The voice was rich and amused, followed by a deep chuckle. Strong arms pulled him into an embrace and Kakashi sighed, wrapping his small arms around his father’s broad torso, perfectly pleased when he felt the weight of Sakumo’s chin on top of his head.

He knew that this was a dream. A fragment of his memories.

But he _wanted_ to indulge in it.

He missed his father so much.

“Sleep,” he mumbled back, curling up into Sakumo’s embrace, small arms clung to Sakumo’s body with sheer desperation.

He missed this. He missed it so much.

But has it always been only his dad?

Was it always the two of them?

Kakashi felt that something was off.

Something was missing.

Then, he felt soft lips peppered the top of his head as equally soft hands circled around his shoulders. His back was pressed plush against soft curves that was a contrast to his dad’s hard chest, and Kakashi squirmed to roll around and curl against the soft fabric of her kimono, giggling when his face was immediately peppered with kisses. The soft lips stopped at his forehead, slender fingers with sharp painted nails cradled his chubby cheeks for a few seconds and Kakashi closed his eyes, enjoying this fragment of memories while it lasted.

He knew that it was just a dream.

A dream. An illusion from his wishful mind.

But god, he longed for it.

Thus, he indulged in it, letting himself drowned between the warm, tangled bodies of his parents.

When he finally woke, the sound of Sakumo's chuckle was still ringing in his ears while the images of the loving kiss that his parents shared still felt so real and vivid in his mind. He blinked in disoriented confusion, looking up to his own reflection on the ice ceiling and took a few seconds to remember that his mother possessed the abilities to travel through multiple dimensions.

This was one of her personal dimensions.

It was one of his favourite dimensions too.

Kakashi took a few seconds to gather his strength before he carefully left the bed, dragging the blanket along with him as he trotted towards the balcony. He pulled the blanket tighter when he reached the carved balcony, gazing down at the vast expanse of thick snow and peaceful sky. Kakashi rested his cheek over the railings, not wanting to move despite the chill that penetrated through his blanket.

If he squinted, he could almost see the mirage of his sweet memories with his parents down there.

He remembered coming here when his father was alive. They used to come here during rainy season in Konoha, spending time as a family in the short break that Sakumo got in between missions. His mother would bring them here and they all would spend the whole trip playing in the snow, competing with each other in making snow sculptures, or even indulge in a very competitive snow war.

And when the night fell, they would retreat into the ice palace to cuddle in a pile by the fireplace.

It was a much happier time.

Kakashi exhaled, seeing through the mist of his breath with glazed eyes.

He could see _them_.

The mirage of his past.

He could see his younger self running across the snow with Sakumo hot on his heels. He could see the images of his father—smug and wolfish—as the man tackled his four-years-old self onto the snow, tickling him as they both rolled all over the thick snow. They were only stopped when his mother finally interfered, tucking a giggling Kakashi into her embrace as she berated Sakumo, pulling the White Fang by the ear.

It was one of his favourite memories.

Because despite how mad his mother would be at his dad for exposing him way too long to the cold of the snow, that scene would _always_ end up with Kakashi squished between his parents’ chests as they shared a languid kiss.

But all of that was once upon a time ago, now only a fragment of memories in his mind.

These silhouettes of the past that he saw down there?

It wasn’t real.

It was just an illusion projected by his needs to return to those happier time.

His dad was dead.

He swallowed a broken cry and curled himself against the railing, letting the tears dripped down his cheeks. Curled up in the thick blanket, Kakashi mourned over his father, completely drowned in the sorrow and loss. Too deep in his grieving, Kakashi didn't even notice the soft footsteps that were heading his way. He ended up choking a sob, his breath hitched in surprise when slender arms pulled his huddled body into an embrace, the comforting scent of his mother immediately blanketed him with a sense of security.

Kakashi hiccupped, small hands sneaked out of the blanket to cling to his mother.

She was the only one that he had left.

“Kashi,” she sighed, cradling him to her chest.

She was the only one that he had left.

“Mom,” Kakashi whispered, hoarse and broken. “Dad—,” he swallowed, bursting to mournful sobs. “I miss him.”

Her face softened and Kakashi completely melted when she pulled him up her lap, cradling him close to her body.

“Sshhhh,” she hushed, peppering kisses over the top of his head. “I miss him too.”

Kakashi hiccupped again, looking up to meet her pale lavender eyes. He reached out, cupping her soft cheeks in his own calloused hands before the sorrow overwhelmed him again and he immediately nestled his face against her chest, clinging onto her kimono with the pure determination of never letting her go.

“Don’t leave me. _Please,_ ” he begged, clinging to her. “I don’t want to be alone.”

She was the only one that he had left.

She was the last thread that preserved his sanity.

And he would fight to hell and back to protect her.

* * *

Rin felt empty.

It used to be a fun prospect, to have a pack to call her own and two brothers whom she could claim as _hers_. That was what their bond provided—the sense of belonging and family—and she has been expecting to nurture that bond until Kakashi could properly fit into their little pack. They would be an invincible pack—Kakashi’s cool and grounding presence, Obito’s fiery spirit and powerful drive to move forward and her own emphatic gentleness to balance them out.

They could’ve become a legend together.

Just like the Sannin. They could’ve become a trio of legend _together_.

But she has lost them _both_.

Rin rolled to curl on her sides, pressing her face to the cool dented metal of Obito’s hitai-ate, inhaling the mixed scent of her brothers’ blood that has tainted the hitai-ate to dark red. It reminded her of what that she has lost. Rin knew that it wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism—that she could’ve held their shirts instead to get the soothing comfort of their scents—but she needed to be reminded that they died so young and so tragically.

Her gaze landed on the unpacked boxes at the corner of her room and the loss struck her heart again.

Fugaku didn’t even hesitate to give her everything that Obito owned, pulling the ancient rule out of the dusty depths of the old clans’ history when the Uchiha protested that decision.

Being the sole survivor of her pack, the ancient rule dictated that Rin would inherit everything that her packmates owned as she carried their legacy forward. Rin has brought Obito’s belonging to her room but decided to leave Kakashi’s belongings untouched at the Hatake’s compound.

Or rather, _her_ compound now.

He was her packmate too and the ancient rule has dictated that she was his heir until either one of them formed a mating bond with another person.

Not a day after Konoha lost its last Hatake, the rumour mills have spread out the fact that Nohara Rin was the sole heir to both Uchiha Obito and Hatake Kakashi.

She was expected to shoulder the position that Kakashi has left now—she was expected to carry the legacy of both of her packmates—and the council's elders have even started to drop hints to have her replacing Kakashi's position as the Hatake Clan Head.

Rin knew that they only agreed on that idea because of her current status as a jinchuuriki.

How else would you secure her loyalty to the village? Making her a Clan Head in the stead of her deceased alpha would do that. If she was a nobody Rin like before, they would quickly hide that ancient rule and denied her rights as Kakashi’s heir.

Rin hated it.

Not even a week after his death, and they have already been plotting.

These old bastards.

Rin gritted her teeth, knuckles went pale white as she held on to the memento of her lost brothers.

Rin was done.

Done.

She was done with Konoha.

In the span of a month she has lost both of her packmates—her omega to Iwa-nin and her alpha to an unknown murderer—and not even once these warmongering councillors have shown some genuine sorrow for the loss. No. only the Hokage has extended a supporting embrace for her to mourn in, and Rin knew that the old alpha couldn't do much when their democracy was dominated by warmongering bastards.

Obito was killed in action, and the only thing that these bastards fussed about was how Konoha now has lost its chance to produce powerful Uchiha for the village's military.

Kakashi was brutally murdered, and the only thing that these bastards fussed about was what a loss it has been to lose such a wonderful candidate for an elite ANBU.

Rin was turned to a jinchuuriki against her will, and the only thing that these bastards fussed about was to train her to be a perfect weapon, intending to secure her loyalty by making Rin the Clan Head for the now extinct Hatake.

They have lost their chance at Kyuubi, considering that Kushina was old and hard-headed enough to defiantly disagree with their plan of turning jinchuuriki as weapons.

Well, Rin might only be thirteen years old—the impressionable, obedient age as the councillors have put—but she was going to give her biggest ‘fuck you’ to these godforsaken warmongers too.

Thus, she stood from her curl on the bed, staggering to her weaponry closet with her mind already set in place.

She wouldn’t become a weapon for _them_.

Rin gritted her teeth—remembering Obito’s faint last words to them and Kakashi’s trembling form in her arms—as she packed everything in the weaponry into a sealing scroll. She trotted to her closet, pausing for a moment when her gaze landed on Obito’s jacket and Kakashi’s shirt that they have exchanged with each other the moment their bond solidified. Tears glazed her eyes when she reached out towards the clothes and a tiny sob tore out of her throat as she inhaled deeply on the fabric—taking in the comfort from the lingering scents of her deceased brothers before she sealed those clothes in a tiny scroll, wearing said scroll as a necklace around her neck.

Zipping her mission cloak and tying the blood-soaked dented hitai-ate over her forehead, Rin pursed her lips in pure determination.

_My pack died for this warmongering village._

Rin laid her original hitai-ate onto her table.

_Obito dreamed of peace—wanting to be the Hokage to stop this pointless war._

The warmth of the red dawn spilt through her window onto the metal of her kunai.

_Kakashi wished for peace—not wanting anyone else to suffer losses as he did._

Rin angled a kunai over the smooth metal plate of her hitai-ate.

_And they died for this village, just another pawn in this war._

Rin would have none of that. Not anymore.

This was not the kind of village that Obito and Kakashi have died fighting for.

This was not the kind of village that Rin _wanted_ to fight for.

Thus, Nohara Rin made her decision.

_I would not be a weapon for this godforsaken village._

Rin didn’t even hesitate when she slashed a deep line over the metal plate of her hitai-ate.

 _Farewell, Konoha._

* * *

Obito was waiting when Kakashi finally returned to Kamui—an hour later.

He didn’t know how long it would take for normal people to deal with the bloody mess that was a menstruation cycle, thus he has decided to leave Obito alone for an hour. He left right after he placed a bucket of water and washcloth next to Obito’s bedroll, with a stern order for his puppy to summon him if they needed him.

Fuwa-chan has barked a happy affirmative to that order, thus Kakashi left without even looking at Obito, spending the next hour skipping rocks along the beach of Uzushio.

When he felt the warm flare of the seal on his wrist that was linked to the one on Fuwa-chan’s collar, Kakashi returned to Kamui.

He stepped into the dimension and was greeted with the familiar scowl on the less scarred (and much younger) face of his friend.

Kakashi has to fight the urge to smile.

For someone who still hasn’t completely shed his baby fats off and didn’t even have the strength to stand without support, Obito made quite an intimidating picture. He was standing with his back against one of the larger cube, arms crossed and jaw locked in a tight scowl. Kakashi could see that Obito was pushing himself, leaning against one of the scattered cubes for support, though he did somehow manage to project his displeasure all the same.

Standard Obito.

God, Kakashi wanted to reach out and hug Obito so badly now.

“You might want to sit,” he pointed out instead, hesitating to reach out to aid his friend. "Your legs are still weak—"

“I’m not weak!” Obito snapped.

Kakashi didn’t miss the way the Uchiha winced and leant a bit more against the cube.

Fuwa-chan rolled his eyes again—and Kakashi swore that he saw the tiny puppy _facepawed_ and sighed—before the pup trotted towards Obito. Fuwa stood on his hind legs the moment he reached the disgruntled Uchiha, stretching his front legs a little bit so that his short little paws could reach Obito’s thigh. The paws glowed green, and Kakashi resisted the needs to shoot Obito a smug look when the younger boy exhaled a sigh of relief.

But he held back the urge and schooled his face to a pleasant smile.

Obito’s responding glare could’ve killed a man after all.

“I’m not weak,” the Uchiha muttered through gritted teeth, body tensing up when Kakashi sunshin to stand in front of him.

“I never said that you are,” Kakashi hummed, looking down to stare into those defiant dark eyes.

This. This was the Obito that was his personal hero.

Openly expressive and strong-headed, never backing down even when he was at a disadvantage.

He wanted to hug Obito so bad.

“Liar,” Obito hissed, stepping back until he was leaning against the very edge of the cube. “You think that I’m weak because of what I am, right?”

Mismatched eyes promptly softened.

 _No._ Kakashi thought, mind reeling back to the man who started the Fourth Ninja War.

_You’re strong._

He thought of the twisted man back during the war, thought of how breathtakingly beautiful that Obito was—the dead last of the class against a troop of shinobi and he was still on the winning side. That Obito was a personification of power and strength, even if he wielded it to the wrong path for most of the time.

_You’re really strong. You really are._

“I think that you have the potential to be very strong,” he said sincerely, smiling to the stunned boy. “I’m suggesting you sit because I do not wish for you to worsen your injuries.”

“This injury is nothing—"

"You have been in a coma for a full month," Kakashi countered with a stern look in his eyes, extending his hand to Obito. "And I have to reattach your limbs, Obito. Take it easy.”

Obito blinked, gaze falling to the right side of his body.

“You reattached them?” he whispered, growing a bit green in the face.

“Your right arm and leg were destroyed beyond repair,” Kakashi explained, inching closer to hold Obito’s elbow. When his friend didn’t resist, he gently eased the dark-haired boy to sit on the crumpled futon. “It was a risky procedure—to reattach them—and even with my best effort, I could not guarantee if you would be able to regain your former mobility back if you keep straining yourself like this.”

Obito gaped, dark gaze fell to the right side of his body.

“I thought it was just broken bones—,” he started, gaping before those big dark eyes shifted back to meet Kakashi’s mismatched gaze. “It was that bad?”

Kakashi didn’t want to do this, but Obito has always been so stubborn that only a slap of truth would actually make him listen. Thus, he allowed his eyes to shift to sharingan, pointedly ignoring Obito’s hitch of shocked breath as he stared into his friend’s eyes, showing the boy of his condition when Kakashi rescued him.

The image of unconscious Obito with empty eye sockets and limbs that hanging off his body by measly strings of muscles still haunted Kakashi’s sleep up until now.

Apparently, showing the truth to Obito was enough to stop the Uchiha from keep straining his body. Obito deflated once Kakashi dispelled the illusion, his face was deathly pale, mouth slacked open in horror.

“How did you do it?” the Uchiha mouthed in horror, looking down at the right side of his body. “I was _destroyed_ ,” he murmured.

Kakashi shrugged. “I’m a decent medic.”

_With the voice of the best medic Konoha could offer giving me guidance in my head._

_“Awww, sensei!_ ” Sakura crooned. _“That is a tall praise, coming from you. I’m so happy.”_

Obito blinked, staring blankly at his body before he was finally snapped out of his trance as he jerked to attention, shifting his gaze to meet Kakashi’s red-tinted gaze. “You’re an Uchiha,” he blurted out, staring at Kakashi in with narrowed eyes.

“Maaa…,” Kakashi tipped his head. “I didn’t steal these eyes.”

"Half-blooded then?" Obito asked, only to scowl when Kakashi only responded with a smile. He pursed his lips then, gaze shifting from the three spinning tomoe of the red eyes up to the silver hair. “Part Hatake too?” he prompted, sounding hopeful.

Kakashi gave him one of his trademark smiles. “What do you think?”

Obito scowled.

“I think you look a hell lot like my packmate,” he grumbled, still eyeing Kakashi’s silver hair. “I don’t know how Bakashi looks like without the mask, but I’m sure as hell both of you will have a strong resemblance to each other.”

Kakashi chuckled, daring to sit beside Obito and happily leant his back against one of the cubes when Obito didn't react negatively. He beckoned Fuwa closer, vaguely wondering that instead of the fluffiness level, he should’ve named this puppy for the sassiness level instead, because the damned pup actually huffed and _snorted_ before he trotted closer and curled on Kakashi’s lap.

Fuwa the sassy puppy.

God damn it. Why is his life like this?

“I don’t know your friend, so can’t confirm that one,” he mused absent-mindedly, a bit distracted with tickling Fuwa’s cute tummy.

“Then, what is your name?”

Kakashi jerked at the sudden question.

He knew that this was inevitable. He knew that he would have to discard the name Hatake Kakashi sooner or later, especially when he has been considering recruiting allies in the nearest future. He has discussed it with the voices in his head. He needed trustworthy allies. Naruto has proposed Nagato—the original Akatsuki—as a potential ally because they still haven’t passed the tragedy that changed Uzumaki Nagato to Pein. He still had time to rescue the original founders of the Akatsuki and make them his strongest ally.

He has also been weighing the idea of recruiting Minato and Fugaku as his allies, but he still wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, considering their close ties to Konoha.

Even though he has still yet to hear anything from the clones that he sent to Konoha, Kakashi had this vague feeling that something was off about _this_ Konoha. His effort to sabotage the war should've prompted Konoha to propose peace treaty back during the first time he went through this, but this Konoha was as relentless as other hidden villages, sending troops after troops to fight in the war despite Kakashi's constant intervention.

It was enough to spark anxiety in Kakashi and made him considered sending more clones to Konoha.

He didn't do that. Not yet at least.

Obito made a displeased impatient noise, thus snapping Kakashi out of his thoughts.

“You obviously already know my name, so I want to know yours.”

The Uchiha has his arms crossed over his chest, jaw locked in a tight grimace while his dark eyes narrowed at Kakashi's direction. Kakashi immediately schooled his face to a bright smile, resisting his urge to reach out and pull Obito into a hug. He was reluctant to ditch the only thing that he hasn’t change from his past—his own name—but this was inevitable, thus Kakashi feigned a casual shrug, focusing on the soft fur of Fuwa’s belly to distract him from his inner turmoil instead.

“Sakuto,” he sighed out, looking up at the dark ceiling.

 ** _Saku_** mo and Obi ** _to_**.

 ** _Sa_** suke, Sa ** _ku_** ra, Naru ** _to_**.

If he couldn’t use his own name, at least he wanted to carry on the name of the people who have changed his life.

Kakashi inhaled deeply and tilted his head to meet Obito’s curious gaze. He ignored the ache in his chest, ignored the odd discomfort in his chest as he abandoned his old name and embraced his new identity with the wishful thinking for a new beginning that would hopefully result in a better future.

Meeting Obito’s eyes, Kakashi inhaled a deep breath.

Then, Hatake Sakuto smiled.

“My name is Sakuto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you hate it that the omegaverse stuff is mainly used as plot devices rather than the usual fun stuffs?
> 
> Here's a brief explanation about the pack thing in this story. There are three major types of pack.
> 
> 1\. Clan/Blood pack : The old clans in general. Think of this as the large family you have to deal with during Christmas dinner, or any similar equivalent of other celebrations. This is the pack that they're born into and the leader is usually the Clan Head. You share the same blood, you're in the same blood pack. If a civilian or a beta marries into a blood-pack, they would only be considered as a family member once they produced a child with the same blood as the clan. The blood-bond of the parent and the child is the way to be accepted by the whole clan.
> 
> 2\. Bond-pack : Usually created among close friends of different clans. Think of this as the nuclear family. Usually led by the alpha (or the strongest one if there are more than one alpha) and supported by the rest of the members. The initiation into a bond-pack is a huge thing among the old clans of this universe as it is equal to admitting that your packmates are your own blood and flesh, hence the reason Rin possessed the right of inheritance for Kakashi's and Obito's belongings. They're family by choice, and is highly acknowledged that the alpha of the pack has the rights over the biological parents of the pack members. 
> 
> Yes. This would mean that if Obito or Rin ever got married (which they will), smol Kakashi has the rights over Mr&Mrs Nohara and (the very deceased) Mr&Mrs Uchiha to walk Rin and Obito down the aisle.
> 
> (Feel free to imagine smol Kakashi walking Obito down the aisle to hand him over to the older Kakashi. How meta is that?)
> 
> 3\. Mate-Pack : Exclusive for mates and their direct children only. The smaller and stronger version of Blood-pack. The basic form of family.
> 
> And all hail Fuwa the sassy puppy. I'm sorely tempted to go with Kougi, but my brother kept chanting "Fluffy" to my ears that I ended up google-translating that word. Google said that Fluffy is Fuwafuwa in Japanese. So, here's Fuwa the sassy Corgi. It probably have different meaning after being cut in half, but meh, let's just roll with it, yes?


	8. One hell of a busy night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed. Also, I'm having my ObiKaka mood, y'all.

_Rin?_

She didn’t respond.

_Kakashi?_

Complete silence.

Obito pursed his lips, eyes growing warmer with unshed tears at the unspoken rejection.

Were they mad at him? 

It has been _hours._ Obito has been calling out for his packmates for _hours_ and yet it was still deafening silence in his head. The strongest echo he had was in the form of fuzzy sobs that vaguely sounded like his and Kakashi’s names, uttered by Rin's distorted voice.

It happened only once in these hours he has spent awake.

And that only happened when the air cracked open as Sakuto stepped into this bleak area. Once the swirling distortion that transported Sakuto into this place closed shut, Rin’s fuzzy sobs were immediately silenced too.

Silence.

Obito couldn’t hear or feel anything from his link.

He almost cried right there and then, fearing that his siblings have really abandoned him—that he would once again be left in loneliness—but the situation didn’t permit him to wallow in his emotions. Despite the bright assuring gleam of Fuwa’s eyes, Obito couldn’t force himself to relax. He mustered all of his willpower to stand straight, leaning his back against the large cube to give the illusion of strength despite the pain that seared all over his body.

This injury would not make him let his guard down. 

He was still in a strange place in the company of an unknown strange shinobi after all.

He _would not_ let his guard down.

Obito didn't know how his vow to not let his guard down ended up with him being arranged to rest comfortably against a makeshift bed by one of the large cubes. Sakuto has somehow manoeuvred Obito to rest against the cube with a soft pillow cushioning his propped back and a fresh blanket thrown over his lap. The older teen was lying hunched on his belly right next to Obito's bed with his long silver hair almost touching the floor, still damp and untied.

The relaxed vibe that the silver-haired seemed to emit out eventually had an effect on Obito’s nerves, drowning his anxiety and distrust with a comforting scent that Obito could only equate to trustworthy alpha.

It was weird.

 _Sakuto_ was weird.

Not even a few hours since their awkwardly disastrous introduction, Obito was already seeing the signs that his supposed saviour wasn’t exactly _normal._

Despite how his more instinct-oriented side of the mind seemed to determine that the silver-haired teen was an alpha, Obito's senses has countered that with logical information. Sakuto did emit the prominent scent of an alpha—carrying the musky tang of dominance in his unique personal scent—but there was something else about Sakuto that was so obnoxiously strange it made him so intriguing to Obito's natural curiosity.

Obito couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with Sakuto, but he knew that it was there.

Strange. Sakuto was strange. 

And intriguing. Sakuto was so _intriguing_ _._

Sakuto has been openly honest while answering Obito's questions throughout their long healing hours. It was odd, to meet someone so truthful in this era of war, but there Sakuto was, answering Obito's prodding questions without any tattle-tale fluctuation of his heartbeats that might indicate lies. There were evasive responses and blatant refusal to answer, but there were no lies.

Sakuto was such an intriguing enigma.

Obito _wanted_ to unravel that enigma.

Thus, Obito paid more attention to the older teen. He observed Sakuto's mannerism with watchful eyes, seeing the slight similarities between the dog-like quirks of the older teen with his own much younger packmate.

It wasn't that hard to see the unique quirks of Hatake's lineage inside Sakuto. Heck, it was so terribly obvious.

Plus, with the eerie resemblance between Sakuto and the White Fang?

Yeah, right.

Obito wouldn’t even be surprised if Sakuto was really the illegitimate elder brother of his packmate.

The timeline was almost a match because everyone knew that Hatake Sakumo stopped going into honeypot missions when he was courting Kakashi's mother, and that was a few years before they mated and Kakashi was born.

Plenty of time for an accidental pup to be birthed as a result from those missions.

Though, that opened a whole chest of forbidden jutsu. It brought up more question of from where Sakuto's Uchiha lineage came from. The sharingan was a dead giveaway of an Uchiha relation, but the Uchiha was extremely strict with their mating regulations. It was almost unheard of for any Uchiha child to be born outside of the clan.

Emphasis on the ' _almost_ '.

As much as it saddened Obito to even consider the thought that there might be an Uchiha being born outside of the clan's knowledge and protection, it was _possible_. Birth outside the clan was possible, despite the extreme minuscule chance. Someone might have slipped past the clan's strict regulations to procreate outside of the clan.

It has happened a century ago, it could happen in recent decades too.

Perhaps that was what they all needed—to grow and be raised outside of the clan—because insane as Obito thought Sakuto was with the way the alpha kept murmuring to himself, Sakuto's general behaviour around Obito was oddly refreshing.

Obito knew how he would be treated if he returned to his clan all injured and incapacitated like this. They would’ve put him in a hyper-guarded house right in the middle of the compound. The house would be made of reinforced steel and locked with security seals to ensure his ‘safety’ from any form of threats. The Uchiha clan would do anything and everything to make sure that he would not step his foot into a battlefield again. He would be treated far better than a privileged daimyo’s son, but at the cost of his own freedom. They would use his injuries as an excuse to cement his movements to the clan’s compound—trapping him in a metaphorical golden cage to keep him out of danger and action.

Sakuto did the exact opposite.

He warned Obito against moving way too much—something that Obito has begrudgingly agreed to when his joints kept hurting with a sharp pain that was enough to make him wince—but Sakuto has made it up for that inconvenience by randomly teaching Obito the art of fuuinjutsu.

And it wasn’t even the ordinary fuuinjutsu.

It was the _Uzumaki’s fuuinjutsu._

Obito couldn’t even be mad for being kept bedridden.

Come on. _Come. On._ How many living people in this world could claim that they have the lost knowledge of the Uzumaki clan?

Only _two_ people and they’re Kushina and Minato.

Well, three if Obito counted Sakuto, and soon-to-be four once Obito got a hang of this knowledge.

(Probably six if Obito could contact his packmates and shared this knowledge with them. He still had to pay Kakashi back for that impromptu kenjutsu lesson they had just before the mission, and Rin has been demanding for _years_ to have something as an exchange of knowledge for the basic first-aid ninjutsu she taught him. This would do for his part in their three-way knowledge exchange.)

In short,this was not a normal treatment that Obito would usually receive.

To top it off, it was really weird to not have an alpha fawned over him while he was on his monthly blood fall.

Normally, Obito would have to smother himself with scent suppressors every time his menstruation started, else he would have to deal with the wanting possessive looks from every single alpha that crossed his path. They couldn't resist the scent of fertile blood, and their nature would instinctively prompt them to start courting Obito a prospective mate.

(As much as Obito used to enjoy the chocolates and pastry treats they sent his way, he quickly grew out of it as his own annoyance intensified at the not-so-discreet possessive stares that they directed his way.)

Oddly enough, Sakuto didn’t even bat a lash.

It was super weird.

And Obito meant that in a good way, despite the sheer weirdness of the situation.

Though, he kept his comment about Sakuto's general weirdness to himself and focused on a more pressing matter.

His pack.

_Rin? Kakashi?_

Obito waited for his call to be answered, only to be disappointed with the pure silence. They weren’t answering.

_Rin? Kakashi? Are you mad at me?_

More silence.

Obito then had to blink the wet warmth in his eyes away.

He hasn’t been able to reach Rin or Kakashi at all.

He was aware that his action blocking them out to spare them the misery of hearing him dying would probably weaken their bond, but it wouldn’t sever it completely. The bond could only be completely severed by two options. The first was obviously by death, while the second option was even trickier because that person needed to willingly sever their ties to each other. The bond sought their link way past their words—it was in the blood, linked straight to the heart and mind, and the unknown power that watched over their bond would know if a person truly meant to sever their attachments to each other.

Obito only wanted to block them out back then, to spare them the pain from hearing his fear of death.

He didn't want to sever their ties. 

So, he should be able to feel them, right?

He should be able to. They were _his._

Then, why everything was a deafening silence?

“Hey, Sakuto-san?”

Sakuto didn't even stop sketching the seal on the scrap paper but he did shift his mismatched gaze to meet Obito's eyes. Concern laced those mismatched eyes, and Obito swallowed, forcing his voice to remain firm and not cracking at the emotional turmoil that was terrorising his mind. It didn't work as expected, because Sakuto has promptly leant up to plant one hand over the faint ridges of the scar on Obito's cheek, brushing the first tear away with his calloused thumb.

"What's wrong?" Sakuto murmured, silver brows knitted closer to form a frown. "Are you hurting again? Any pain? Should I up the painkiller dosage?"

Obito shook his head, resisting the urge to cry.

God, people who have eyes _that_ pretty and openly expressive should not be so kind. This was so unfair.

Obito has never seen anyone else with such vibrant blue eye apart from Minato. Growing up in Konoha, Obito was accustomed to seeing brown, grey and black eyes of Konoha's natives, as the ones with different non-dojutsu eyes were mostly foreigner like Kushina or have mixed heritage from foreign blood like Minato. Sakuto has extremely pretty eyes, all narrowed almond-shaped slant of the typical Hatake eye shapes but with brightly coloured irises unlike the usual grey or black.

Though, the thing that got Obito the most were the _emotions_ in those mismatched eyes. Worries, concerns and protectiveness filled those expressive mismatched eyes as they met Obito’s glazed vision. Sakuto wore his emotions so openly honest in his eyes that it struck something inside Obito, making him want to curl in this alpha’s arms and crumble away.

Obito once again reminded himself that he just met this guy, so he couldn’t just straight up ask for a comforting cuddle from Sakuto.

Perhaps sensing Obito’s distress, Sakuto scooted closer, allowing Obito the space to lean against his side. It wasn’t even close to a hug, but it was a solid reminder that Obito wasn’t alone. Obito accepted the unspoken offer, closing the space between them and didn't resist when Sakuto shifted so that Obito's head was pillowed against his shoulder. Obito rolled his eyes upwards to look into those expressive eyes again, feeling a little bit comforted when the narrowed slant of those eyes has softened, making Sakuto’s eyes slightly larger than they originally were as the mismatched irises stared at Obito with raw emotions—so openly honest.

“Sorry,” Obito mumbled. “I—”

He swallowed, hating himself to be so easily overwhelmed by his own emotions.

Sakuto didn’t say anything. Instead, the older teen simply smiled—his eyes crinkled and lips curved upwards to a sincere comforting smile, without any signs of mockery at all. He then tilted his head, his cheek now was pressed on top of Obito’s hair.

It felt familiar, somehow. This warmth reminded Obito of when he and Rin used to pile together.

That thought caused him to wince, hoping that his packmates would forgive him one day.

He still hasn’t got the chance to drag Kakashi into a pile after all, and god knew that the brat needed it.

It took him a few more minutes to gather his cool back—the needs to seek for a means to contact his pack intensified for each second that passed. Obito turned restless not long after that, now calm enough to speak without those tremors in his voice. He shifted his head, meeting Sakuto’s drooping sleepy gaze.

“Sakuto-san?”

“Hmm?”

“Why can’t I feel my bond with my pack in here?” Obito asked, gesturing aimlessly around the area. “Where are we, anyway?”

Really. That was another thing that confused the hell out of him. Obito has no clue what so ever of his current location.

“Kamui,” Sakuto responded in a heartbeat, eyes narrowed with alert rather than the sleepiness before. “This is Kamui dimension.”

“Dimension?”

Sakuto exhaled heavily and when he spoke, his voice trembled. “It’s my sharingan ability,” he murmured, and when he turned to meet Obito’s gaze again, those expressive eyes carried a hint of heavy sadness in it. “It is some sort of separate pocket dimension from the world outside.”

Obito gaped.

_What. The. Fuck._

That explained why he couldn’t feel his packmates. If he was in an entirely different dimension, made sense that his link with his siblings ended up in a deafening silence.

Perhaps they haven’t abandoned him yet.

He lowered his gaze to his lap, counting the threads of the fresh blanket and wondered if his siblings made it out okay, wondered if Kakashi and Rin were doing fine after the traumatic experience of feeling Obito’s fear of death and he couldn’t help but felt slightly impatient to get out of Kamui and contact them.

But Sakuto has made it clear that it would be safer for Obito to recover here in Kamui first.

Obito had to agree. It was war out there while going back to Konoha in this state would put a stop to his shinobi career the moment his clan got their hands on him. His injuries were still a handicap as he still couldn’t walk without stumbling after a few steps. He needed time to allow his body to heal properly.

He still wanted to know how Rin and Kakashi were doing though.

Obito fisted on the blanket, wondering if it was possible for them to go outside for just a few minutes so that he could contact his packmates. He needed to know that they were fine and would eventually forgive him for blocking them out. However, his mental dilemma was cut short with a string of questions.

“Hey, Obito?” Sakuto called, voice hesitant and dripped with confusion. “What do you mean with your bond, though? And pack? I don’t know that the Uchiha uses pack-system too. Aren’t only the Hatake and the Inuzuka use pack-system?”

The speed Obito snapped his head up to stare incredulously at Sakuto was fast enough to invoke yet another sharp pain from his right shoulder when he jerked away too fast from Sakuto’s warmth. He stubbornly ignored the throbbing pain, eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing that Sakuto was truly confused and wasn’t trying to be a smartass by asking those stupid questions.

“You don’t know….?” Obito whispered, honestly so mind-fucked.

Sakuto shook his head, looking genuinely confused.

Obito was about to yell at Sakuto for being an idiot before he had to backtrack, remembering that the older boy has been evading and refusing to answer questions about his heritage. Not that those evasive answers were helping in hiding the fact that Sakuto wasn't raised in a clan. Heck, there was a high likelihood that Sakuto grew up alone on his own, considering that this pocket dimension was cluttered with sparse supplies of basic living needs as if the older boy has been using this dimension as a shelter ever since he discovered it.

Sakuto probably has no one to teach him about the rules of the old clan.

Obito felt his life-long habit made its presence known once again, eyes growing warmer at the thought of someone that wasn’t even that much older than him have to grow up alone, with no one to guide and support him when he needed it.

It heart-wrenchingly reminded him of Kakashi—all alone in this world.

Obito wanted to reach out and give Sakuto a comforting hug—boundaries between strangers be damned.

However, before he could do anything, the hard lines of Sakuto’s shoulders tensed up. The older teen snapped his head up, mismatched eyes now narrowed in a focused calculative look that sent signals of _danger_ everywhere.

Obito stared, frozen in a mix of terror and shock when Sakuto suddenly threw his head back and _laughed_.

It was a mad, unhinged laugh.

* * *

His rotten luck was really out for his blood, huh?

Despite the horribly awkward introduction that ended up with Kakashi being exiled from Kamui to loiter around the beach of Uzushio while Obito dealt with his _monthly issue_ , Kakashi couldn’t help but feel relieved that his friend has finally woken up from the month-long coma.

One problem now checked out of his list.

Then, another problem came piling in.

He had thought that today would end in a bright note. Obito was awake and was marginally friendly to him. The panic that hit Kakashi when Obito admitted that he was in pain turned out to be an expected side-effect of the reattachment procedure, something that would heal on its own with enough time and therapy. To counter that issue, he has spent long hours after returning to Kamui to heal Obito, making sure that his friend wouldn't suffer way too much pain. He then spent the rest of the day lying on his stomach sketching lines of seals on scrap papers—teaching his friend of the knowledge he recently dug out of the ruins of Uzushio.

He knew that Obito hated feeling helpless and useless.

And the genuinely excited grin that Obito sent his way after the first successful recreation of a basic seal told him that he has made the right call.

It should have been a fine day.

But of course, the world hated him, and another trouble wriggled in to ruin his day.

One of the clones that he has sent to Konoha has popped out of existence, carrying foreboding information of doom.

Kakashi quickly reviewed the information that his clone has given him, ignoring Obito’s existence as he did so, not wanting to be distracted from the long-awaited info from his scout. The information struck him with a strong sense of disbelief, leaving him to freeze in utter bafflement right by Obito’s bedroll before he finally managed to gather himself again.

Then, he threw his head back and _laughed._

It lasted for a full month, huh?

Kakashi has been resisting his urge to personally stalk on his former teammates for that long. It was a temptation—to stalk Minato, Rin and his own younger self—but he has a mission to complete and couldn’t afford a distraction.

(Obito alone was already too much of a distraction.)

He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist himself from shadowing his former team if he let his attachment to his past grow, thus Kakashi did what a shinobi was expected to do.

Conceal. Don’t feel. Don’t let the attachment grow.

He spent this full month resisting his longing for his team.

Going back to Konoha was out of the question, because this was the era of _war_ , and despite his recent reputation as an anti-war neutral party, Kakashi has worked in the Konoha's underworld long enough to know how it would end if he returned to Konoha uninvited. A visit to T&I would be inevitable if he dared to crash onto Konoha's gates claiming allegiance and demanding a hitai-ate for himself.

That was a bad idea all around. The knowledge of the future was not something one should freely have, and with Danzou still alive and pulling these strings of manipulation around?

Kakashi rather suffered the longing for his old team rather than giving the sneaky old man any access to his knowledge or power.

God bless that he trusted his gut-feeling that kept telling him to not go back. The decades of carefully honed shinobi instinct warned him _against_ going back to the village that he has once called home, and Kakashi was superstitious enough to trust that instinct.

Worth it.

It was more loss than benefit if he went back to Konoha. Allying himself to his former village would only limit his movements. He couldn’t move freely if he claimed his allegiance to Konoha, and he _needed_ that mobility in order to continue sabotaging the war and hunt his targets.

For an old wrinkly prune Madara was supposed to be in this time period, the man was impossible to track.

Kakashi has sent his clones all across the globe to hunt that man. His scouts have scoured the lands to look for Madara's hideout and the whereabouts of Zetsu, but both were nowhere to be found. This was one other reason that stopped him from caving to the needs to stalk his old team in Konoha. He couldn't return home when two of the most dangerous proponents to Fourth Ninja War were still free out there.

Later. He would return to them later. One day, he would return to them—perhaps not with his birth name, but he would definitely return home to them.

One day, when the threats were completely eliminated, he would return home.

Plus, it wasn’t like he hasn’t sent his clones to Konoha to scout the situation. He had his clones disguised as a refugee couple to infiltrate Konoha. They will alert him if something big happened.

Or so he thought.

He hasn’t heard from his clones in Konoha for about a week now—even after he has sent a telepathic order to them to update him on Konoha’s news, especially considering the obvious lack of his younger self during the Sanbi mission—and lho and behold, what a delightful surprise it was when one of them suddenly popped out of existence, only to reveal that both of his clones were already been found out by Danzou’s ROOT agents and were kept for interrogation for the past week.

And the information they gathered while in captivity was infuriating enough to keep Kakashi’s bloodlust at its peak.

Konoha wanted to force all able-bodied Uchiha to the frontlines. They couldn’t do it the legal way, because Madara and Hashirama have agreed that only selected Uchiha would be sent to the frontlines while the rest defended the village—a means to protect their dojustu—so they decided to force an amendment of the original treaty by cornering the Uchiha into submission.

Kakashi couldn’t even spare a moment of what the fuck silence for the completely unexpected death of his younger self. The implication of ROOT framing an innocent Uchiha for the murder of his younger self was far more serious than his own death. One wrong move, this could end with a civil war in Konoha. On the other hand, if civil war didn’t erupt, it would lead to the extinction of the Uchiha.

Sending all Uchiha to the frontlines? That just spelled a field trip for sharingan hunting.

Either way, it wasn’t an outcome that Kakashi wanted to happen.

Delightful. So bloody _wonderful._

Fuck Konoha. He ain’t coming back as an ally unless he had Danzou’s head on a platter.

And probably socked the Sandaime right in the face too, if he had time for it.

Sure, Sarutobi’s mistake has _killed_ Danzou’s lover—whoever that person was—but that wasn’t the reason for the Sandaime to be so stupidly dismissive to Danzou’s shady behaviours. This was not how one compensate for guilt, god damn it.

Kakashi dispelled his remaining clone and decided to interfere more directly in this matter.

There was no way in hell he was going to allow Konoha to go down this destructive path.

* * *

“You really should control your temper, little Uchiha.”

Setsuna returned that chiding words with a vicious glare.

“ _Bastard,_ ” he hissed.

The old man huffed. “So prideful.”

With that, the heavy door was shut close with an ominous thud, plunging Setsuna into complete darkness. He spat the blood out of his mouth, attempting to activate his sharingan despite the draining drag of the seal at the back of his neck, but to no avail, he was too weak to activate his dojustu. His chakra was drained to the point of non-existence and the interrogation he just went through has left him with excruciating pain all over his body.

_Bastard._

He needed to warn Fugaku about this.

He didn’t kill the Hatake brat.

This was a set-up. It was a dirty set-up to corner the Uchiha clan into submission.

“Fuck,” he growled, levering his body with one shaky arm and actively ignoring the searing pain that lashed throughout his whole body. “Damn it.”

He needed to warn Fugaku.

He needed to warn Fugaku before it was too late.

Setsuna tried to force his body up, refusing to give in to the inevitable despite not knowing how he could escape from this cell long enough to seek and warn Fugaku. He needed to get out. The fate of his clan depended on the knowledge that he has—the knowledge that Hatake Kakashi was already dead from a chest wound by the time Danzou’s ROOT found his cooling corpse.

This whole thing was the bastard’s set up to push the Uchiha into submission.

But his injuries overpowered him, causing him to stagger and stumbled on his own feet. His limbs went numb as the drug made its presence in his system known.

It was a familiar drug, commonly used to induce death to a dying comrade in the middle of a battlefield, a kind of mercy death in the battlefield.

It wasn’t so much of a mercy death now.

If he died here, they were going to dismiss it as a suicide.

They wanted to silence him before he could expose their dirty plan.

He would not be silenced.

He _refused_ to be silenced.

Thus, Setsuna staggered towards the small ventilation holes of his prison, seeking for an opening for an escape—the searing pain from his injuries and the threatening numbness of the drug be damned. He reached the cold walls with extreme difficulties, his breathing heavy as he leant against the wall, already losing the feeling of his legs by now. Gritting his teeth, Setsuna tried to use the wall as leverage to keep his body up, only to almost stumble in shock when a kunai flew past the barred window of the heavy door and landed on the floor of his cell.

Setsuna’s eyes widened upon noticing the elegant script on the three-pronged kunai.

His numb limbs faltered, and he would’ve fallen flat on his face if not because of a warm body that broke his fall.

Of all the rotten luck.

“Come to finish me off yourself, Namikaze?” Setsuna slurred, vicious and still challenging despite his current condition.

Namikaze Minato chuckled.

“Quite contrary.”

Setsuna rolled his eyes to the side to glare at Minato.

Minato gave him a beaming cheerful grin.

“I’m busting you out, actually.”

* * *

Fugaku had a headache.

Specifically, a Minato-sized kind of a headache.

“Minato _hates_ Setsuna,” he deadpanned, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose despite the knowing look that Mikoto has sent in his direction. “And the investigation team has decided that Setsuna murdered Hatake Kakashi,” he added, despite his own distaste to that thought. “This is ridiculous.”

But Fugaku couldn’t deny the blooming hope in his chest too.

He knew Setsuna. That brat was one of the younger children that he has personally babysat back when he was much younger.

Fugaku _knew_ that Setsuna was innocent, despite the contrary conclusion that the evidence presented.

This was the alpha that went so outlandishly traditional while attempting to court Obito. Setsuna adhered to the traditional courting ritual of their clan, being so respectful whenever he courted Obito and has never crossed the lines like all the other alphas that have attempted to scent-mark Obito. That has actually earned him grudging respect from Obito himself, if Fugaku hasn't gone deaf when he overheard his young nephew ranted about his unwanted suitors to the Nohara girl.

Setsuna was a traditionalist. A prideful one at that.

If he truly wanted to kill Kakashi, Setsuna would’ve done it through an open challenge with the whole village as an audience and the whole Clan Head council as the witnesses. There was a specific ritual among the old clans to settle dissatisfaction among themselves. Considering that both Setsuna and Kakashi were from old clans, they were eligible to engage in that ritual.

Striking the poor Hatake from behind wasn’t even remotely close to the prideful traditionalist that Uchiha Setsuna was.

But all evidence has perfectly pointed in his direction, thus Fugaku was left with no choice but to accept the conclusion in order to avoid conflicts with the village’s administration. It torn him apart, to sacrifice Setsuna so that the rest of the clan would not end up at the receiving end of a civil war against the rest of Konoha, but it has to be done.

It was a tough decision, but Fugaku was ready to shoulder the burden of the guilt—ready to mourn Setsuna for the rest of his life.

They were already in a tight spot with the village ever since Madara turned traitor decades ago, and the situation only worsened when the Nidaime’s good intention to balance out the power difference between the Senju and the Uchiha in the village was misinterpreted by _some_ of the village’s councillors.

Needless to say, the Uchiha clan wasn’t in a good relationship with the village’s administration for the past few decades.

And now, Minato decided to pull this treachery _against_ Konoha _for_ an Uchiha.

Fugaku had a mind-splitting headache.

“That’s true,” Kushina hummed, eyes closed peacefully as she sipped on her tea. “But Minato also knows that Setsuna-kun is innocent.”

“On what basis?” Fugaku questioned, straining hard to hide the hopeful twinge in his voice. “The evidence all pointed in Setsu-kun’s direction.”

"Evidence can be fabricated," Kushina countered, opening a single eye to shoot Fugaku a stern look. "The accusation is too perfect," she started, placing her cup on the table. "I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but I have worked with him once."

Fugaku's eyes widened as he stared at the smirking jinchuuriki.

"B-ranked assassination mission. Some stupid noble got himself at the wrong end of an omega’s spite. Setsuna-kun was only a chuunin back then,” Kushina paused, deep blue eyes were intense and stern as they sought Fugaku’s own. “The brat cleaned up well even when he was pressured and cornered with unexpected hindrances. Not a single evidence remained.”

Mikoto hummed thoughtfully. “You don’t think that Kakashi-kun’s murder fit his profile.”

Kushina snorted. “I would’ve been convinced if the murder was done a little bit more professionally,” she deadpanned. “Plus, Rin is convinced that it wasn’t Setsuna who killed Kakashi. Her confidence in Setsuna's innocence was the one that pushed Minato to do this.”

 _That_ was something that Fugaku did not expect.

Fugaku was expecting that Nohara Rin would be the one who would demand the honour of executing Setsuna. It was her rights to do so as the survivor of the pack, but if she was convinced that Setsuna was innocent…

Then, who killed Hatake Kakashi?

“And Minato does _what?”_ he exhaled anyway, running a hand through his hair, honestly could not wrap his brain around this. "Takes your gut feeling seriously and now commits treachery against the village?"

Kushina shot him a bright mischievous grin.

“Yep~!”

Fugaku had a headache.

Specifically, Minato- _and-_ Kushina-sized headache.

_God damn it, these two._

* * *

“Why?”

Minato glanced at the boneless lump in his arms, internally cursing at the way Setsuna struggled to remain awake. The Uchiha’s breathing has grown fainter, dark eyes now glazed over with a regretfully familiar cloudy tint. Minato shifted so that he could have a secure hold on Setsuna’s body, perking his senses up to ensure that they were truly alone in the cell.

“Not now,” he hushed, summoning his chakra to Hiraishin away from the cell.

“ _Now_ ,” Setsuna growled, hands fisting in Minato's shirt, defiant and stubborn even when he was literally dying in Minato’s arms. “I don’t think I have much time left,” he slurred, glazed eyes shifted their murky gaze up to meet Minato’s vibrant blue ones. “Why are you doing this?”

Minato resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

 _Uchiha_.

Obito was just like this too. So stubborn.

“You said it yourself,” he murmured, hauling Setsuna up into a bridal carry. “Kakashi was already dead by the time ROOT discovered his corpse. This is a set-up to pressure the Uchiha clan.”

Setsuna growled for being carried like a bride.

Though, he deflated after that, breathing growing fainter. “You don’t know that.”

“Shinobi instinct,” Minato said, promptly hiding his chakra signature when he sensed an approaching guard. “Rin doesn’t think that you did it either.”

Setsuna jerked in his arms—whether if that was because of surprise or because of the drug, Minato didn’t know.

“How _naïve_ ,” he heard the Uchiha spat grudgingly.

“Obito told her that you’re an honourable traditionalist,” Minato countered, exhaling a breath of relief when the guards simply walked straight and did not turn to the hallway that led to Setsuna’s cell. “Attacking a pup from behind has no honour what so ever.”

“I didn’t kill that brat.”

Minato frowned at the slurred mumbled words.

That didn’t sound good at all.

He was just about to teleport to his house—where Fugaku and Mikoto were already waiting there under the guise of a friendly dinner to solidify their fake alibi—when he halted, eyes widening at the unnatural swirl that ripped the dimension open.

It was a scene that he has personally witnessed only once, yet it was so memorable that Minato wasn’t even surprised to see a tall figure clad in dark cloak and blank white mask to step out of the unnatural crack in the air. He immediately tensed up then, shifting his weight on his feet so that he could shield Setsuna from the Hatake’s wrath.

Keeping the fearful trembles of his voice to a minimum, Minato greeted the newcomer;

“Sakumo-san.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Universe-building Notes!**
> 
> _1\. How menstruation cycle is treated in this universe is different from the reactions in our world. All alpha of this universe has a strong needs to please an omega (or female beta that they liked) during that time of the month. They weren't disgusted with it, but instead, they saw it as the chance to impress prospective mate and show off their ability to take care of a suffering mate. Kinda like the whole, "I'm capable of treating you right while your uterus is tormenting you, so please give me a chance?" thing as they piled all kind of comfort food on the poor menstruating soul._
> 
> _("Food is the way to the heart" is the universal motto of this universe's alpha whenever they sensed someone they liked is on their period.)_
> 
> _2\. This is another thing that I might use in the ending/upcoming chapters. It's a tiny little thing of this universe, but I thought you should know to avoid confusion or question the characters' reaction. For characters with secondary genders, the pronouns used for their parents depended on who sired them and who birthed them. Let's say Sakuto and Obito. Sakuto is the sire, so the pups traditionally would address him with 'Dad', 'Papa', etc. On the other hand, Obito would be called as 'Mom', 'Mama' etc because he was the one that birthed them. It worked the same with other combinations. Female alpha and male omega, for example, would end up with the female being called 'Dad' and the male omega being called 'Mom'._
> 
> _I've read a few A/B/O fics that the omega male character disliked it when being called Mom and wanted to be called with the male version. Not gonna happen in here because their culture has set this rule in place ever since after Kaguya's death. If the couple consisted of someone who can sire and can birth, this rule will automatically apply._
> 
> ============================
> 
> I want to add in Team 7's shenanigans, but damn it is too long that they might have their own chapter after all. Probably a bonus chapter along with the upcoming updates. Though, they might be more actively involved in the next chapter because Sakuto was gonna need all the helps he could get.
> 
> And the village did not know that Rin has defected because this event happened in the same day as the last chapter. Rin snuck out of Konoha around the same time Minato committed that prison break. 
> 
> P/s: Sakuto is going to be interrogated to hell once Obito activated his Mangekyou and found himself stumbling into the very same Kamui that he knew belonged to Sakuto.
> 
> lol


	9. Madness is the popular choice of coping it seems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many of you was mildly concerned that I missed an update? Sorry. My lazyass got myself food-poisoned.
> 
> Apparently, if one piece of bread already turned mouldy, you could not eat the rest no matter how temptingly nice and clean they looked like. You'll get a horrible food poisoning. Don't do it, kids. Don't be a lazyass and please go out to buy a new bread when the one in your kitchen already turned mouldy.
> 
> Un-betaed. I'm not exactly happy with this chapter. And I actually cut this one in half to the next chapter. So...
> 
> Enjoy?

* * *

Out of all the scenarios he imagined would happen in this impromptu rescue mission, this was not one of it.

"Sakumo-san," Minato breathed, blue eyes widened in surprise even though his stance remained ready and tensed. “What are you doing here?”

Kakashi blankly pointed at the half-conscious man in Minato’s arms.

“I’m coming to bust him out, actually,” he whispered, still not knowing whether to freak out in horror or to freak out in fanboying awe. “He is innocent.”

Did he or did he not just caught his sensei committing a prison break?

Minato visibly exhaled a relieved breath.

 _“Dad commits a prison break,”_ Naruto mused, almost sounding like he was choking in excitement. _“Holy shit, he commits a prison break_.”

Sasuke snorted. _“Guess your law-breaking tendency is a genetic trait, dobe.”_

 _“Shut up, Sasuke-teme! This is awesome!”_ Naruto screeched.

Kakashi flinched.

Loud. That was too loud.

 _“All hail the law-breaking Yondaime,”_ Sakura deadpanned dryly.

_“Sakura!!!”_

Kakashi winced again at the loud voices in his mind but didn’t let his guard down.

He was still in enemy territory after all.

Minato seemed to be in the same line of thought as him.

The blonde man shifted Setsuna in his arms, supporting the barely conscious man so that Setsuna was draped and tucked in his arms as he bent down to retrieve his dropped kunai. He eyed Kakashi with reasonable hesitance and wariness, seemingly to grow some doubts on his next course of action.

Then, Minato squared his shoulders, tightened his grip on the barely conscious Setsuna and reached out for Kakashi.

There was a tug and all of sudden they were in a completely different location.

“Holy shit.”

Kakashi resisted the urge to flinch at the shocked gasp that slipped out of Kushina’s lips.

“Mikoto,” Minato huffed, placing Setsuna on the floor. “Can you please—” he said, gesturing at Setsuna.

Mikoto was about to kneel by Setsuna’s side when Kakashi beat her to that. He tugged the hood of his cloak down, revealing the striking silver hair to his awed audience, and pointedly ignored the soft collective gasp of surprise that resounded in the room when he pulled off his mask, letting the blank carved wood to drop on the floor.

 _“Check his heartbeats and eyes,”_ Sakura instructed, voice echoing in his mind, now serious. _“Then, his chakra path.”_

Kakashi did as instructed, counting Setsuna’s fading heartbeats before checking the young man’s dilated eyes.

 _“Slowing heartbeats. Dilated pupils,”_ Sakura pondered as Kakashi ran a glowing hand over Setsuna’s forearm. _“Coagulating blood,”_ she listed down. _“Huh. They tried to kill him using the old mercy pill.”_

There was a beat of deafening silence.

 _“Mercy whaaaatttt??”_ Naruto screeched again, but Kakashi was better prepared for it this time.

But damn, the boy has a loud voice, even as a disembodied imaginary presence.

 _Suicide pill used back in the Third War_ , Kakashi responded matter-of-factly.

 _“It was discontinued after the war for a more efficient suicide pill.”_ Sakura chimed in. _“Sensei, we need to dilute his blood before we could take the drug out of his system.”_

_“What?!”_

Kakashi flinched again. Naruto has an impossibly loud voice.

Sasuke snorted. _“It is a pill to kill yourself, dobe.”_

_“Not that!! YOU’RE GONNA DILUTE HIS BLOOD???”_

Sakura let out a long sigh before she deadpanned;

_“I pushed my hand inside your chest and pumped your heart with my bare hands, Naruto.”_

Sasuke’s voice dripped with evil amusement when he commented;

_“Awwh, she had a hold of your heart, dobe. Isn’t that a dream come true for you?”_

_“God damn it, Sasuke. Why are you like this?”_

_“You mean, why does Sasuke-kun suddenly has a personality?”_

Kakashi almost snorted at Sakura’s deadpan. That was a sick burn.

_“Since when are you so savage, Sakura?”_

_“Since I realised that you’re an asshole who enjoyed stabbing us all in the back.”_

_“Ooooh, kunai thrown.”_

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the argument inside his head.

Seriously, these children….

 _Children,_ he mentally reprimanded them, channelling his usual ‘I’m so tired of your bullshit’ tone into his words. _Postpone this argument, please?_

Thankfully, they went into silence, and when they did speak afterwards, it was with a more serious tone.

 _“Sorry, sensei,”_ Sakura huffed, and Kakashi almost had a vivid mental image of a pink-haired girl tying her hair up in a bun, eyes narrowed on her patient with deep concentration. _"As I said, you have to dilute his blood and keep his heart beating. It's probably best if you have someone to assist you with the chest compression. You're not experienced enough to do both at the same time."_

 _I’m not experienced enough for any of this._ Kakashi thought, horrified as the realisation that he literally held Setsuna’s life in his hands dawned in his jumbled mind.

_“You’re a prodigal genius.”_

_I’m an assassin, Sakura,_ Kakashi countered. _My ANBU training did not cover this. We take lives, not save them,_ he rambled, slightly hysteric upon hearing the slowing beats of Setsuna’s heart. _I’m not a medic. I can’t save anyone._

_All of you died._

Imaginary Sakura made a soothing crooning noise.

 _“You did great with Obito’s injuries,”_ she comforted. _“It’s okay,”_ she hummed again, and Kakashi’s mind was bombarded with vivid imageries of what he was supposed to do. _“We’re here. I’ll guide you.”_

 _“Activating the sharingan might make it easier to see his blood flow,”_ Sasuke pointed out, sounding less condescending and more serious now. _“Chakra path moved in a similar direction as blood vessels.”_

 _“Try it,”_ Naruto urged. _“You can do it, sensei. Believe it.”_

Kakashi visibly swallowed, activating his sharingan in complete auto-pilot. It did make things easier to see, and Kakashi promptly lifted his face up, meeting the gaping faces of Minato and Fugaku, shying his eyes away from Kushina’s intrigued stare and settled his gaze on Mikoto’s thoughtful smile.

"I need clean water," he uttered, jerkily nodded when he repeated Sakura's addition, "…saline solution would be best, or purified water," he cast one quick gaze at Setsuna's paling face, and mentally cursed. "And someone to assist me."

Mikoto snapped to action faster than anyone else could blink.

“Darling, go to the clan’s warehouse and retrieve the saline solution, please,” she smiled to her mate.

Her eyes then narrowed dangerously when Fugaku remained dumbfounded.

“Medical supplies section, Fugaku,” she repeated. “Second floor, fourth row of the third shelf from the stairs."

She ended the instruction with a glare and an urging smile that successfully make Fugaku paled and sunshin away.

Mikoto then neatly folded her knees next to Kakashi and stared straight to his eyes, dark eyes taking in the sight of his abnormally unique sharingan without an ounce of fear or wariness.

“How may I assist you?”

Kakashi was sort of petrified in awe.

 _“Damn, Sasuke,”_ Naruto commented. _“Your mom is kinda scary.”_

Sasuke snorted, sounding prouder than he let on. _“She raised me.”_

**_"One needs the spine of a steel and cool calmness to raise someone like you, brat."_ **

Kakashi blinked, recognising the deep ancient voice that once spoke to him using Naruto’s mouth during the Fourth War.

It was the first time he heard Kyuubi’s voice among his students’ disembodied voice.

Which was kinda weird, because he has no attachment on the bijuu for the fox to manifest as a delusion like his students.

Though, he didn’t bring it up when Mikoto's face was suddenly inches from his own, dark eyes stared intently into his spinning sharingan.

Kakashi instantly withdrew some of his chakra, morphing his sharingan from the uniquely patterned Mangekyou to the standard three-tomoe to show that he didn't intend to use the sharingan in a harmful way.

Mikoto huffed and quirked a tiny smile, eyes staring at him expectantly.

“Start chest compression,” he mumbled to her expectant look, internally grateful when that was the moment for Fugaku to arrive with the supplies. “Keep his heart beating.”

Mikoto scooted closer to do as instructed, though her dark gaze was permanently fixed on Kakashi’s face. Kakashi ignored the stare despite the discomfort and self-consciousness that it wrought to him, mind now completely tuned into Sakura’s calm instructions, his hands now glowing green.

He can do this.

_I can do this._

Kakashi clung to his students’ mental presence to force himself to believe that lie.

* * *

This was a miracle.

Mikoto didn’t stop her hands from pumping Setsuna’s chest, ensuring that the blood kept circulating while her strange visitor performed the miracle. She stared in awe at his glowing green hands, recognising the delicate medical technique that was slowly pumping life back into her dying clansman. She was not a medic herself, but out of all people in this room, she was the best in first-aid, thus the reason she was the one who assisted him.

The Ghost. The famed _Spirit of Peace._

Hatake Sakumo.

Though now that the mask was off, and they all have gotten a look on his face, that assumption of Hatake Sakumo being resurrected from the dead using a modified Edo Tensei was definitely hundred percent wrong.

The entity that has been sabotaging the war for the past month was just a teenage boy.

A _teenage_ boy.

And this boy has the sharingan. His eyes were blue and green when he first took off his mask, but now they were red with three spinning tomoe. This child has a pair of fully-matured sharingan—plus the legendary Mangekyou too if the unique pattern was any indicator—and there was no doubt that the sharingan was definitely his own.

Mikoto struggled to not croon and wrap him in her arms.

She was the mother of the Uchiha—the matriarch, the clan’s Omega—and it was a common knowledge that she considered every single Uchiha children were hers. 

But this strange silver-haired child…

She felt strongly protective and drawn to him.

It has never happened before. Despite her maternal protectiveness over the whole clan, she has never felt drawn to anyone like she was drawn to him. It was beyond what she felt for other Uchiha children, because a part of her—the more carnal, less logical part of her—saw him and wished to viciously protect him.

She only felt this way around her firstborn.

It was strange, to look at this notorious anti-war entity and saw her little boy—two years old baby Itachi—inside him.

Something within her tried to reach out to him as if recognising this strange shinobi as her own biological cub. It was almost like a spiritual call, like something beyond her comprehension was telling her that a part of this boy was _hers._

Mikoto trusted her instinct.

This boy was hers.

Hers. Just like Itachi.

She didn’t understand the reasoning of her yearning to protect him, but she didn’t question it.

Perhaps because just like Obito, Rin and so many other young shinobi she has offered her arms for them to cry into, this boy’s mismatched eyes carried the look of a seasoned war veteran too—aged, pained and tormented with loss and bloody war—a look so unfit to a child barely reaching his teenage years.

It was something that no child barely of age should have.

Not Obito. 

Not this silver-haired teen.

Their eyes shouldn’t be weighed down with this kind of look.

Thus, Mikoto tried to assist him as best as she could, following his murmured instructions without question. She pointedly ignored Kushina’s hushed guffaw and the equally confused looks on Minato and Fugaku’s face when she tried to smother the silver-haired teen with a comforting motherly scent.

The boy didn’t even flinch, though Mikoto smiled in satisfaction when the tensed line of his cloaked shoulders relaxed by a tiny bit, and he seemed more at ease and focused.

“I think it’s okay now,” he murmured after what it felt like hours—voice amusingly cracked and husky like that of all the growing teenagers in her compound.

Mikoto immediately retreated as he took her spot, placing one of those glowing hands over Setsuna’s heart while the other hovered over Setsuna’s open mouth.

Mikoto watched in horrified awe when small lumps of coagulated blood were forcefully pulled out of Setsuna’s open mouth, floating in the little blob of water that hovered inches over the glowing hands. She watched as the silver-haired teen repeated that process over and over again until the little metal dish by his side was filled with little clumps of blood while Setsuna has started breathing on his own again.

“He needs proper rest before he is strong enough for travel,” the teen murmured, crushing two soldier pills into a glass of water before he guided the blob of tampered water into Setsuna’s mouth, keeping one glowing hand over the young man’s throat as he guided the other down to rest over Setsuna’s abdomen. “It shouldn’t take long if we get him to gradually consume soldier pill once he is awake, but he needs time to recover.”

"I have a safe house," Minato chimed in. "My personal one. No one knows about it."

“Too risky,” Fugaku countered, brows furrowing. “And you have risked your reputation enough.”

“Go big or go home, Gaku,” Minato grinned. “I already committed a prison break.” 

“ _Natto_ ,” Fugaku spat back, only to sigh in utter helplessness when his jibe was met with Minato’s beaming grin. He then shot a helpless glare in Kushina’s direction. “Kushina,” he growled, though there was no hostile bite in his tone, as it sounded more exasperated. “Look at your mate, casually increasing his chance of being accused as a traitor.”

“I’m looking at him,” Kushina promptly responded, staring at Minato with an exaggerated besotted look. “Still handsome as ever.”

Minato blew her a flying kiss.

Kushina caught the kiss and placed it on her heart.

Fugaku groaned, face meeting his palm with a soft smack.

Mikoto saw a tiny smile grew on her young guest’s face.

“It is not a crime if you didn’t get caught~” Minato cheered, seemingly growing more relaxed now. "And I'm pretty sure that the village would be far distracted with much bigger news soon."

Fugaku very slowly lifted his face from his palms and shot Minato a suspicious look.

“ _Minato_ ,” he growled, brows knitting even closer, eyes narrowed. “What else did you _do_?”

Minato hummed and flashed his teeth in a beaming grin.

“Oh, nothing big~” the blonde hummed, crossing his arms behind his head, looking mischievously devious. “I just implanted a brilliant idea in the impressionable mind of a young girl.”

“ _What_.”

Fugaku turned his head around to shoot Kushina a baffled questioning look.

Kushina grinned. “Exactly like he said,” she hummed, tipping her head cheerfully in Minato’s direction. “Young kids are easy to persuade.”

“What have you two done?”

Mikoto ignored the utter horror in her mate’s voice and completely tuned out of the trio’s bickering. She stared at her young guest instead—taking note on all of his little quirks—as the boy returned his attention back to healing.

She used to have a major crush on Hatake Sakumo when she was a little girl—that little phase all children went through when they chose someone much older and wished to marry that person when they grew up—and the similarities between the dead Hatake and this strange teen was striking. If it wasn’t because of the mismatched eyes, the little mole on the chin, the narrow slender nose and the less developed young physique, the resemblance would have been uncanny.

She understood why the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho have mistakenly assumed that this boy was Hatake Sakumo.

With the mask and the baggy cloak, it would be hard to differ between the two, especially when their mannerism and subtle habits were almost the same. The dog-like tilt of the head that the boy did every time he seemed to ponder on something. The almost subconscious way he seemed to move his head in the direction of the passing breeze as if he was fully relying on his sense of smell to analyse his environment. The little annoyed huff that almost sounded like a puppy’s whuff—

They were all Hatake habits.

But he wasn't completely Hatake. This boy was an Uchiha too.

She could feel it. The fiery chakra of an Uchiha, the spiritual call that tempted her motherly instinct to curl and protect this boy like her own.

He was an Uchiha too.

Mikoto reached out a hand to brush the silver bangs away from hiding the boy’s face. It was odd, because she was pretty sure that this boy had her nose, but her attention was quickly averted to another feature of his face. Her breath hitched upon seeing the hidden purple diamond on his forehead.

She recognised that purple diamond.

She has only seen it on two people. The late Lady First, Uzumaki Mito and the legendary Sannin, Senju Tsunade.

Rin talked about this particular purple diamond a lot whenever she was over, and Mikoto knew how hard it was to achieve it.

What has this boy went through to possess a Mangekyou and the Strength of A Hundred Seal?

It must be a difficult life.

She gently tipped his chin up, meeting his spinning sharingan without an ounce of wariness.

Within those spinning eyes, Mikoto saw Itachi. She saw Shisui.

Mikoto saw _Obito_.

She looked into his eyes and saw what her little boys would look like if this war didn't stop.

She looked into his eyes and remembered what this war has taken from her.

“Mikoto-san?”

Mikoto planted a kiss on the purple diamond. 

* * *

“I wonder if sensei knows….”

Isobu was tempted to talk to his jinchuuriki.

“What do you think, Isobu-sama? Do you think he knows? That I’m planning to defect?”

Despite the temptation, Isobu didn’t reply.

“I mean, it was kinda weird, the way he sat me down and told me about the children of Ame,” despite his lack of response, the human kept on rambling. “What is the purpose for him to tell me that? We’re at war with Ame. Why would he tell me of Jiraiya-sama’s students and the Akatsuki?”

Like hell Isobu would know. He himself was still so baffled that the weird Hatake boy knew his real name.

One did not simply know a bijuu’s name. Isobu and his siblings have long distrusted humans, with minor exception of Gyuki (who was completely smitten by his own jinchuuriki) and Matatabi (whose curiousity would one day kill her if Isobu has any say in it, because god damn it only that stupid cat would consider it as a fun hobby to poke brains with insane humans like _Senju Tobirama)._

In short, it was completely unheard of for a non-affiliated human to know of a bijuu’s name.

But the strange brat knew.

Isobu didn’t find that fact comforting at all.

Thus, he remained in his silence despite the temptation of a friendship that his jinchuuriki’s persistence has offered.

However, regardless of his silence, Isobu couldn’t resist but extend a little bit of his chakra into her sensory range, wanting to ensure that her escape from her toxic village remained undetected. Luck was on their side apparently, because the route and patrol schedule that the Namikaze has so conveniently left for Rin to read was completely accurate. They managed to sneak past the fort behind the Hokage’s monument and used the civilian escape route to make their way out of the village.

It took the whole night to make it far enough from the patrol route, but Isobu was impressed with the tenacity his jinchuuriki has displayed in this escape.

Now, as the dawn broke, Rin has finally stopped running for a quick rest. They were near the borders now, as Isobu could sense that she was heading to Ame—the heavy humid scent in the air was a dead giveaway of their current location—but he resisted the temptation to comment.

It didn’t seem to deter her chatter regardless. She kept whispering to him, talking and confiding to him with the fond hopeful tone, as if she wanted to believe that his presence inside her body was enough to compensate from the longing loss Isobu could felt hammering in her heart.

He knew that she was a victim too, being forced to play the role of his hostess so that greedy human could destroy her home. He knew that she has suffered loss, and that she was still grieving for her lost brothers.

Isobu didn't exactly hate his jinchuuriki.

He was just wary of her.

But she always talked to him. Despite his silence, she continued confiding in him.

Isobu could practically answer any questions about both Obito and Kakashi now because that was the only thing that she has been talking about. It was an unhealthy coping mechanism—at least that was what Isobu could assume based on his limited interaction with humans—but he kept his comment to himself and let his human indulged in her coping. She kept talking about those deceased boys, telling him about their likes and dislikes, their personalities and quirks—painting vivid imageries of them, as if these poor boys were alive.

Isobu never even met these boys, yet he felt that he already knew them like a best friend would, because that was what she was to them.

A best friend. A sister. Family.

Isobu was tempted to talk to her, knowing that he could relate to her, wanting to share the feeling of being separated from his own siblings.

But he held his tongue.

A bijuu shall not trust a human. 

* * *

“You want to completely betray the village.”

Minato didn’t even flinch at the accusatory weigh in Fugaku’s tone.

“Yep,” he responded instead, casual and uncaring.

Fugaku wondered if the death of his first student (who was also his pseudo-son) has driven Minato to pure reckless madness because there was nothing else Fugaku could come up with to justify _this._

He couldn’t justify this _treachery._

This was **_insane_**.

Minato didn't bat a lash when the intruder asked if they would risk spying Konoha for him. The supposed Hokage's candidate didn't flinch. He didn't even take a long time to agree to that request as both he and Kushina offered their palms to be marked with a seal that linked them in an instant communication ring with the strange silver-haired boy.

It took Fugaku a complete minute and an urging glare from Mikoto to allow the same seal to be applied on his own palm. He still had doubts of turning traitors, knowing the repercussion it would cause to his clan if he was caught, but—

The injustice that was done to Setsuna. The brutal murder of young Kakashi. The dishonourable politic game the village played using Kakashi’s death as a proponent. The ruthless oppressions that were inflicted on his clan all these years ever since the Nidaime’s death.

It was enough to make him swallow his protest and simply stared as the seal faded into his skin. The intricate ink faded into his skin with a warm glow, leaving nothing to show that it was even there. This was their means of communication. A simple brush over this invisible seal and the intention to summon the creator of the seal would bring the Ghost’s attention to them.

If they have information, they could convey it through this seal.

If they needed aid, they could call for help through this seal too.

It was such a useful, highly-advanced seal.

Kushina realised that. She has blatantly pointed it out too.

Fugaku wasn't even surprised when the boy bashfully admitted that he was part Uzumaki and has been relearning the knowledge of his heritage from Uzushio's ruins since the past months.

There was nothing surprising about that revelation.

Of course he would have Uzumaki lineage too. How else would he have the vivid eye colours if he didn't have a non-Konoha native's blood inside him? People of Fire Country typically have dark or earthy eye colours. Those vivid blue and green were obviously foreign and what clan typically have vivid shades of blue for their eyes?

The Uzumaki was one of those clans.

Plus, this pup dared to ask a Clan Head and a Hokage's candidate to turn traitor and spy for him. That insane reckless bravado alone was proof of Uzumaki's descend.

Thus, it has been decided that all four of them would spy for this _boy,_ who met their gaze with aged eyes of a seasoned warrior and introduced himself as _Hatake_ Sakuto.

Fugaku so desperately wanted to call bullshit, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t deny the pup’s heritage when he looked at that face and saw the striking resemblance of this boy to the deceased White Fang.

The almond-shaped eyes, the high cheekbones, and of course, the trademark hey-come-and-kill-me silver hair that only a Hatake descend would inherit.

But he could see the Uchiha in the boy too.

The slender nose that was typical of the Uchiha’s main family—the one that directly descended from Uchiha Izuna’s many sexual endeavours—the very same nose that his own mate and his son have inherited.

And Fugaku has seen the boy’s sharingan—the uniquely patterned one.

This boy has achieved the sharingan that very few Uchiha could achieve.

It somehow irked Fugaku that this boy chose to claim the Hatake name instead of the Uchiha. But, considering Kakashi’s recent death, it made sense that Sakuto wished to claim that name to ensure the continuation of the Hatake clan.

What that didn't make sense was Sakuto has no intention to join Konoha and claim the rights as a Hatake in the village.

“You’re one of the Hokage’s candidates,” Fugaku murmured, still wanting to persuade Minato out of this madness. “This would taint your reputation if you’re caught.”

“Would it matter, Gaku?”

Fugaku opened his mouth to retort, only to quickly shut it when Minato turned to look at him, expressive blue eyes glistened with unshed tears underneath the warm sunrise. Minato huffed, lips curled to a tight bitter smile when he returned to his lean over the railings, looking over the village with the similar blank grieving look that Rin wore the day she came to Fugaku's door to retrieve Obito's belongings.

Fugaku wondered if Nohara Rin would punch his nephew across the nation the moment she knew that Obito has survived.

“Kakashi is still dead,” the blonde murmured, his voice was barely audible. “Rin defected to Ame. Setsuna would be a fugitive the moment he is strong enough to travel.”

“But Obito is still alive,” Fugaku whispered. “Sakuto said that he is recovering well. Heck, _Kushina_ , your own mate, said that the brat was strong enough to yell at her—”

“It didn’t excuse my failure, Gaku,” Minato cut him off, voice flat and eyes blank. “I failed him by being too late to the rescue. I failed both him and Rin when I let Kakashi died,” he breathed out shakily.

Fugaku opened his mouth, wanting to counter those toxic thoughts, but only a shaky exhale of breath that escaped his lips.

“Was that the reason you refused Sakuto’s offer to take you to Obito?” he finally settled with a question, remembering the baffled confusion on Sakuto’s face when Minato rejected his offer and opted to send Kushina and Mikoto instead to visit Obito.

“I don’t think that I could ever face Obito and Rin again,” Minato mumbled, head bowed and spiky golden strands swayed forward to hide his eyes.

From his angle, Fugaku could still see the way Minato’s teeth were gritted in a tight clench.

“I couldn’t face Obito,” this time, Minato was openly grieving—all broken voice heavy with choked sobs—before his voice hitched to a hysteric distorted humour. “Why do you think I fuelled Rin’s intention to defect?” he snorted a humourless laugh, though when he spoke, his voice has dripped with soulless emptiness. “I couldn’t face her either,” he whimpered, shaking his head in a tiny jerky movement. “I couldn’t face either of them,” he snorted, and this time, his voice was laced with anger.

Fugaku watched as Minato deflated in broken exhaustion, tears now glazed those blue eyes as Minato opened his mouth and croaked out a simple question that Fugaku has no answer for;

“How can I look them in their eyes when I let their brother died?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikoto was drawn to Sasuke's soul, if you wanna know. Kushina was more attracted to the fact that Sakuto was part Uzumaki. She was happy that she wasn't the last one. Minato obviously needed lots of hugs and therapies to deal with his guilt.
> 
> As for Fugaku....He was done. SO DONE.
> 
> Btw, as for Rin's eventual pairing....I'm actually thinking of RinXNagato so that I could go with KonanXYahiko.
> 
> But then I think KonanXRin wasn't so bad either. What do you think?


	10. Road to Training? Yeah right. More like road to love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I need to change the update schedule to once per two weeks just so you guys weren't waiting. I'm currently very busy with real life stuffs to keep the once per week update schedule. Maybe when things calm down a little bit, I can get back to once per week schedule.
> 
> For now, enjoy~!

* * *

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Then, stare at the puppy. Try to not panic. Stare at the puppy. Look at that little ball of fluff—

"Woof?"

Obito whimpered and reached out his arms towards the little fluffball, cradling Fuwa to his chest. Fuwa wriggled and stretched in his arms, only stopping when the pup was able to rest his head on Obito's shoulder. There was a deep rumble that resonated from the puppy—a soothing rumbling sound that actually worked wonders on Obito's shaken nerves.

He held on tight to the small puppy, timing his breathing with Fuwa's calm breathing pace until his panic was toned down to an acceptable level of mild concern rather than a full-on anxiety attack.

But Obito was still reasonably frantic and terrified.

He had thought that Sakuto was a cool decent guy but that—

That was _scary_.

Obito has never been so terrified of someone's laughter before. Sure, he had heard that some deranged S-class shinobi had horrible habits of indulging in evil or mad laughter, but he never thought that he would ever be able to experience it. Laughter should be the beacon of joy and happiness. It shouldn't sound so unhinged and terrifying.

It shouldn't sound like one was about to descend into rageful madness.

His breathing quickened again.

Probably sensing the rising tension in Obito's form, Fuwa yipped and nuzzled his wet nose to Obito's scarred cheek. The rumbling soothing noise grew louder as the puppy completely curled up against Obito's chest.

Obito cradled Fuwa closer.

Obito took an embarrassingly long time to match his breathing with Fuwa's before he was able to summon whatever remnants of chakra that he had to his eyes, activating his sharingan to look for any opening for an escape from this bleak dimension.

There was none.

He was trapped.

He was trapped in Kamui with no way out.

Tucking the puppy in a one-arm cradle, Obito reached up to hold the edges of one of the floating cubes. He hauled his body up with a grimace on his face, but didn't let the pain overwhelmed him. Staggering, he relied on the cubes for support as he made purposeful circuits around the dimension, attempting to seek for any crack that he could manipulate to escape to the real world.

He couldn't take any risk being held captive by Sakuto any longer. Sure, the guy was fairly nice and decent, but if Sakuto could shift from nice to insane in a drop of a senbon, Obito did not want to take any risk.

Not when he was incapacitated like this.

He has no fighting chance against Sakuto at all in this state.

Stuck in the bleak dimension of Kamui, Obito has no means to keep track of time at all. He has no idea how long he has spent staggering in circuits around Kamui, exploring every nooks and cranny he could find—not leaving a single cube unchecked—but by the time he collapsed against a cube, he was spent and exhausted.

The right side of his body throbbed in soreness, and his joints were attempting to knock him out with blazing pain even with Fuwa's glowing paws resting on his right shoulder. He was shamefully out of breath, as his breathing pace was short and laboured while his chest heaved with every inhale.

There was no way out.

It was almost expected when Obito stiffened and felt his blood ran cold as the air swirled to crack open a now familiar portal. He held onto Fuwa with a little bit more horrified desperation than he wanted to admit—his grip was shaky on the soft fur, his breath was bated with tensed anticipation, his mind chanting comforting words to psyche himself up for the worst—as he waited for Sakuto to enter Kamui.

He wasn't expecting to be tackled into a huge hug, though.

"OBITO!"

Obito could see his death coming to him in slow-motion—no thanks to his sharingan—as Kushina and Mikoto lunged towards him in a poor imitation of hungry wolves on the hunt.

(That might be his Uchiha dramatics describing stuff in an exaggerated manner, but Obito could practically see his death approaching him in the form of those two women.)

This was it. His death would be at the hands of the two people that were the closest thing he had for mother-figures as they tried to break his spine in an ungracious fall while smothering and suffocating him in their embrace.

Obito held Fuwa tighter to his chest and braced himself for the fall.

Thankfully, before Kushina and Mikoto could truly break his spine in an ungracious fall, the air shimmered behind him. It was now an oddly familiar sensation, and Obito couldn't help but tensed up when his back did not meet the ground as expected. His back met something softer instead—much softer than the hard ground yet firmer than the two women who tried to murder him with love—as sturdy arms caught the three of them mid-fall.

"Careful," a deep voice reprimanded. "He is still injured."

Obito rolled his eyes upwards to meet Sakuto's mismatched gaze.

Oddly enough, the older boy didn't look insane or angry at all. Instead, the silver-haired gave him a genuine smile—the kind of smile that crinkled up his eyes and emitted out harmless signal. Fuwa rolled his big golden eyes upon noticing Obito's confusion, but apparently has decided that Obito no longer needed him as he leapt out of Obito's arms to sit by Sakuto's heels. Obito flinched when Sakuto's arm wrapped around his waist, trying to feign calmness when the older boy supported him upright as both Kushina and Mikoto released him from their deadly embrace.

However, before Obito could even think of a witty response (or question Sakuto on his weird unhinged episode earlier), his cheeks were cupped between calloused palms and he found himself nose-to-nose with the mother of Uchiha herself. He blinked, baffled at the sudden closeness.

"Mikoto-sama?"

Mikoto's eyes were glazed when they fluttered open, but her lips were warm and soft when she leant down to plant a kiss on his forehead.

"Thank goodness," she murmured to his skin, her hands slid down from his cheeks to wrap loosely around his shoulders, pulling him away from Sakuto's hold directly into her embrace. "Thank goodness," she murmured again, close to a whimper now, voice muffled against the fabric of his shirt. "We thought you were dead," she whispered, fingers curled to fists in his shirt. "We honestly thought that you were dead."

Obito honestly didn't know how to react.

He stiffened in frozen shock, genuinely baffled at her open grieving. He submitted when she peppered his face with trails of kisses—feeling her tears on his skin with a mix of awe and confusion—and opted to awkwardly pat her back when she buried her face to his shoulder.

She was always nice to him but has never treated him like how she treated Shisui and Itachi, so he honestly wasn't expecting this reaction from her. Slightly freaked out and still so very confused, Obito shot a pleading look towards Kushina, hoping for a lifeline to escape this situation.

Kushina grinned and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair.

"Looking good, pipsqueak," the last Uzumaki grinned.

Mikoto stepped away at that moment, allowing Kushina to stand closer to Obito. The hot-blooded women didn't remove her hand from Obito's hair even as she neared their distance, instead, her hand travelled lower to rest on his cheek. Her fingers lingered a bit too long on the faint scars on the right side of his face, her eyes softened as her gaze landed on the way he was completely leaning against Sakuto.

Obito ignored the lingering touch, knowing that things would be even more confusing if he brought it up and was about to slip back into his boastful mask when he fully registered what Kushina has said.

"Pipsqueak?" he narrowed his eyes at the grinning woman.

Kushina grinned wider and patted the top of his head. "Still so short," she hummed, mischievous and taunting.

Obito's brow twitched. "It was only a month. I can't grow taller that fast."

Kushina's lips quirked to a smirk. "Pipsqueak," she purred. "A cute, adorable shorty."

Obito scowled.

Kushina winked. "Shorty."

That did it.

"I'M NOT SHORT!"

With that fuming yell, Obito wriggled free from Sakuto's hold to lunge at her in an angry fit—all pain be damned.

Kushina laughed, arms opened wide to catch him into her arms. Obito flailed, fumbling in surprise when instead of evading and letting him stumbling to kiss the ground, Kushina has caught and pulled him close, cradling him to her chest in an unbreakable hold. One of her hands came up to the back of his head, pressing him close while the other one wrapped around his waist to rest on the small of his back.

Her embrace was tight and secure—as if she didn't want to let him go—while her nose was buried deep in his hair.

There were raindrops on his hair, while some stray droplets fell onto his cheeks.

(There was no rain in Kamui, though.)

"Kushina-san?" He squeaked, voice muffled to her shirt.

Obito would've missed the tremor in her whispered voice if he wasn't practically crushed to her chest.

"You _survived_."

* * *

Kakashi watched in silence as Kushina and Mikoto smothered Obito with love.

This was it. This was what his dear friend deserved. He didn't know what has changed from this timeline and the ones of his past, but it was heart-warming to see that Kushina was more open in her love to Obito here. The first time around, Kushina's maternal affection towards Obito has been well-concealed from everyone apart from Minato.

Not many people knew that Kushina has wished for her son to be just like Obito.

No one knew that Kushina genuinely liked Obito as her own son.

Not even Obito knew about that.

Kakashi quirked a fond smile.

Perhaps this time around, Naruto would truly grow up with an elder brother to look up to.

 _"I wouldn't mind that_ ," Naruto murmured, merely an echo vibrating with fondness in his head. _"Obito is not so bad when he is not hell-bent on destroying the world."_

 _"I reluctantly seconded that,_ " Sakura chimed in. _"He isn't so bad now we keep him far far away from Madara's hands."_

There was a soft noise of discontent that might be from Sasuke before silence fell in Kakashi's typically chaotic mind. It was utter silence in his head despite Kakashi has this vague feeling that his imaginary students were interacting with each other right now.

Sometimes, Kakashi wanted to hope that his imaginary students weren't a figment of his mind.

But he knew better than to hope. Things have never been so good to him, so he shouldn't be greedy. Hyperactive imagination was more than enough to make him feel grateful for not being so alone in this changed past. Thus, he remained in silence, watching Kushina smothering Obito while he waited for his delusions to break the silence of his mind.

It was almost an agonising wait before Naruto broke the silence;

_"Evil is made, Sasuke. Not born."_

There was yet another beat of silence after that grim statement.

Kakashi was stunned too, to be honest. Naruto was never that wise before. Like, this was the village idiot that we're talking about. Since when did Naruto possess sage-like words of wisdom?

_"Kaka-sensei! That is soooo mean!"_

_"He has a point,"_ Sasuke huffed, sounding oddly nasally for some reasons. _"Since when are you so wise?"_

 _"Yeah,"_ Sakura murmured. _"You used to be so dumb."_

 _"DID NO ONE REMEMBER HOW I SWEET-TALK NINETY PERCENT OF OUR ENEMIES TO SWITCH SIDES AND FIGHT_ **_FOR_ ** _US?"_

Kakashi resisted the urge to snort out loud. He was not alone now. Randomly giggling out of the blue would stamp that 'insane' mark on his forehead quicker than anyone could blink. Hiding a little smile, he turned on his heels and shed his cloak, leaving it over one of the cubes as he made his way to the food supplies and quickly whipped out some tea for his guests. He debated on teleporting out to buy some snacks but decided otherwise since this gesture was already too courteous for a shinobi standard.

Tea would suffice.

Obito was frowning at him by the time he returned to them with a tray of tea. Trapped between Kushina's one-arm embrace and Mikoto's hovering presence, his friend seemed awkwardly tensed. Obito seemed to have resigned himself to be inspected and checked by the two females, not even protesting when Mikoto gently manoeuvred him to roll his shoulder as if she wanted to test his level of pain and mobility.

Kakashi made a mental note to check the status of Obito's joints upon seeing the subtle wince that his friend has tried to hide.

Ignoring the confused gaze of his old friend, Kakashi took the spot in front of the trio, serving the tea to all of them and was barely able to restrain himself from quirking an amused brow upon seeing the panic in Obito's eyes when Kushina and Mikoto trustingly took their drinks.

He almost snorted in laughter when Obito's dark eyes morphed to sharingan, as if the boy was ready to act at moment's notice if Kushina or Mikoto showed any signs of being poisoned. Despite his urge to tease, Kakashi let Kushina and Mikoto handled the situation. It was evident that their presence eased up Obito's tension, and considering the inevitable, Kakashi knew that they needed Obito to be calm before they throw the metaphorical paper bombs in his direction.

"How's Rin and Bakashi doing?"

Yep. There it was. The one million ryo question.

Kakashi pulled Fuwa onto his lap and was conveniently distracted by the soft pads of the tiny paws when Kushina and Mikoto shot him an expectant look as if they were expecting him to join the conversation.

Nope. Not gonna happen. He ain't being the one who would drop the news to Obito that Rin decided to defect and join Akatsuki while Kakashi's own younger self was murdered by an unknown assailant.

Nope. He wouldn't be the one who would throw _that_ paper bomb.

Kakashi pointedly ignored the judgemental narrowed golden eyes of the puppy and proceeded to play with the soft little paws as if he was alone in his own world.

(Hey, he was in a teen's body right now. Let the adults do the thing while he happily played with his puppy.)

Fuwa's eyes narrowed even more. Then, the pup has the balls to growl at him and try to injure Kakashi with a sudden claw unsheathing when Kakashi had those paws pressed against his cheeks.

Nasty little pup.

Kakashi made a whiny betrayed noise to the little puppy, of which it was returned with a low growl and a useless attempt of a kick to his chest.

God bless that Fuwa has incredibly short legs.

"Mikoto-sama?" He heard Obito prodded, slightly flinching at the thick worries and dread in that small voice. "Kushina-san?"

"Look, Obito…," Mikoto started, exhaling a deep breath. "We need you to stay calm, okay?"

A quick glance in their direction was a bad decision because Obito's face was contorted in restrained horror and utter denial.

"Did they make it home safe and sound?"

It was more of a squeak than anything else, but Kakashi averted his gaze anyway, feeling heat pricking in his eyes too at the all too familiar hopelessness in Obito's voice.

Quick images flashed through his mind, rendering him shaking and so close to hyperventilating.

The bloody sight of _his_ Obito dying under that rock. Rin's warm blood in his own hands. The cold corpses of Kushina and Minato while infant Naruto wailing beside them. The day Sasuke left the village. The sight of heavily battered Sakura after the battle against Sasori. The moment when Sakura arrived at his battle during the last war with her hand in Naruto's chest, literally pumping Naruto's heart with her bare hand.

The moment when he lost his best friend—his personal hero—for the second time when Obito turned to dust.

It was a montage of memories of the moments when he lost or was about to lose the things that he considered important in his life.

It didn't help _him_ in remaining calm.

It threw him into panic instead.

Kakashi was rescued from breaking into his own panic attack with a small lick over his jaw and a gentle nudge from a furry head to his throat. Fuwa nuzzled his head against Kakashi's throat, letting out the small rumbling noise that worked wonders on Kakashi's nerves, keeping him calm and comforted as Kushina and Mikoto tried to coax Obito to remain calm.

 _"Kaka-sensei_ ," Naruto's voice was soft, gentle even. _"It's okay. Those things won't happen again,"_ he murmured, and Kakashi couldn't help but wanted to believe in Naruto. _"We'll fight to keep as many people happy as possible this time. Believe it, ttebayo."_

 _That's a hard mission_ , Kakashi countered. _There are too many tragedies._

 _"We'll stop them,"_ Sakura piped in. _"We'll prevent all of the tragedies. We won't be late again. Your younger self is our first and last casualty, sensei."_

Kakashi wanted to point out that his younger self's death was kinda justified considering how much he has fucked up both the first time around and this time. Hatake Kakashi deserved to die, full stop. However, before he could point that out, Sasuke was quick to derail him from that line of thought.

 _"One more self-blaming thought in here and I'm gonna bombard your head with vivid,_ ** _extremely_** _obscene imageries of naked Orochimaru,"_ the Uchiha in his head hissed—Sasuke's voice was still hoarse and nasally yet the seriousness of his words was prominent—and Kakashi instantly shivered at that threat. _"Not everything is your fault, damn it."_

There was another beat of silence.

 _"Do we want to know why you have memories of naked Orochimaru?"_ Naruto asked, conveniently derailing their topic to a less depressive track. _"Like, why_?"

Kakashi could almost picture how green Naruto must have looked right now.

_"Missing-nin or not, I still need to have my sex-ed, right?."_

That nonchalant evil response was the cue for Kakashi to tuned out of the conversation.

Nope. He was not going there. Never.

But the external conversation wasn't any better than his internal one.

Obito was yelling and crying.

"Answer me!" the injured Uchiha snapped, resisting the comforting restrains of Kushina's embrace around his battered body. "Did my pack make it home safe and sound?"

Mikoto and Kushina exchanged a look.

Kakashi knew that they weren't going to tell Obito the entire truth then.

"They did," Mikoto assured, planting her hands over Obito's cheeks. "They made it home, Obito."

Obito deflated in Kushina's embrace, pursing his lips when Mikoto's thumb wiped his tears away.

"Safely?" he prodded, voice hopeful.

Mikoto lowered her gaze for a brief second, as if contemplating her words. When she spoke afterwards, her words were spoken slowly, as if she was talking to a hysteric tantrum-throwing child.

"There is nothing we could do to save Kakashi's eye," she started, quirking a tiny smile. "And Rin suffered a light wound on her arm."

"But they're fine? At home?" Obito prompted again.

Mikoto and Kushina exchanged yet another look.

Obito's hopeful expression went crestfallen and contorted with fear when Kushina pulled him closer into her embrace, while Mikoto planted her hands firmly on his shoulders.

"What happened?" Obito croaked with a voice so soft and laced with horror.

"Listen here, Obito," Mikoto started, her voice firmer and carried a strange weight of authority that made Obito lowered his gaze in submission. "Rin defected."

Obito gaped.

"What?"

That horrified whisper sounded abnormally loud in their tensed silence.

"She defected?" Obito tried again, slightly louder this time but it was still a horrified whisper. Then, his face twisted to a scowl. "What the fuck is Bakashi doing? Why didn't he stop her?"

Kushina and Mikoto exchanged yet another glance before directing their gaze towards Kakashi, once again silently demanding him to join the conversation.

Kakashi buried his face to Fuwa's belly, pointedly and skilfully avoiding responsibilities they intended for him to take.

He didn't even flinch when he heard Kushina's huff of frustration.

"Kakashi's gone too," Kushina murmured, settling with a vague half-truth.

Obito's jaw slacked open in a disbelieving gape. "Are you serious?" he hissed, shifting his doubtful stare between both women as if he was waiting for one of them to burst out laughing and claimed that it was a joke.

When they remained serious in their silence, Obito's face twisted to one of confusion.

"Why?"

"A lot of things happened during your absence, Obito," Mikoto jumped into an explanation with a bit more enthusiasm than necessary, probably relieved that neither of them had to say it out loud that Kakashi's younger self was dead gone instead of missing-nin gone. "Bad things, Obito. Konoha is growing corrupted. The tension between our clan and the village increased. Innocents were slaughtered," she exhaled, gripping tighter on Obito's shoulder. "You can't return home. It is not safe."

"But, Mikoto-sama—"

"Stay with Sakuto," Kushina cut his protest off. "He's an ally."

"We're betraying Konoha?" Obito squeaked.

Mikoto cupped Obito's cheeks. "Konoha betrayed us first," she hissed, voice dripping with slight murderous tone, though she did soften the edge of her dark smile when Obito's breath hitched upon hearing her words. "They almost made us sacrifice one of our own, Obito. An innocent Uchiha would have been dead if Minato-san and Sakuto-kun didn't interfere."

Obito was evidently confused, but no longer resisting.

"We hope to resolve this before war breaks, but in the means time, you need to stay out of Konoha's radar," Kushina insisted, turning Obito around so that she could meet him eye-to-eye, her hands planted firmly on his cheek. "Travel with Sakuto. Consider it a training trip," she tried to persuade when Obito opened his mouth to protest again. "He's strong and has the sharingan. He can help you grow to your full potential."

Obito seemed to want to protest again, but his gaze met Kushina's persistent gaze and Mikoto's soft hopeful stare and that alone has put him into silence. He reluctantly nodded, bringing his hands up to embrace both women, of which they both gleefully returned the embrace.

"Maybe I can meet Rin and Bakashi again during the travel," Obito mumbled once he separated from the hug. "And then I'm gonna kick their stupid traitors' ass."

Kakashi peeked at Mikoto and Kushina from behind Fuwa's fur and internally winced.

Neither of them made the move to correct Obito.

Kakashi just knew it that _he_ would be the one to break the real news to Obito.

And he wasn't looking forward to it.

* * *

Ame was oddly comforting.

It was cold and wet, yes, but it was so comforting.

For each pitter of raindrops on her skin, Rin would remember the lazy rainy days in Konoha. The days she has spent curled up against Obito—warm and safe in the blanket fortress they have made in his nest—as they slowly drifted to sleep in a tangled pile.

For each cold wind against her cheeks, Rin would remember the warmth of Kushina's ramen. She remembered holding on to Obito and Kakashi's hands, tugging them towards the Namikaze-Uzumaki's dining room where Minato would greet them with a bright beaming smile.

For each sludge of mud she waded through, Rin would remember the harsh training with Kakashi. The harsh training in the rain where they would always end up with mud and dirt smeared all over their bodies but with an elated satisfaction after a good spar.

It was odd that this foreign rainy land reminded her more of a home than the village that she left behind.

"Isobu-sama?" she murmured to herself, mainly to break the silence rather than expecting an actual answer from the trapped bijuu insider her. "What do you think of Ame? I think it's nice."

There was no response.

Rin honestly didn't expect anything but silence.

She knew that it would take time before the bijuu would open up and be willing to talk to her. Thus, she kept her brisk travelling pace, knowing that if she could push her limits, she would be arriving at Akatsuki's doorsteps in two days travel. She wanted to be a part of Akatsuki because she knew that apart from the Mokuton, the only other thing capable of restraining a rampaging jinchuuriki would be the legendary rinnegan.

She knew that Isobu was not evil, but with the grief in her heart and the hatred in his—it was safe to say that they were not a good combo for peace should either one of them lost control.

The leader of Akatsuki possessed the rinnegan.

If she ever lost control, Nagato would be able to subdue her from completely giving in to her own grief and Isobu's hatred.

Thus, she ran, pushing herself to her limits as she made her way through the mud and sludge of Ame's terrain. The speed that she was travelling was faster than her usual speed—probably boosted by the strange chakra she knew wasn't her own—and with the heavy rain and mist typical of Water Country, Rin completely did not notice the boy before she crashed onto him.

She saw him skidded to a halt, probably sensing her presence in a very last minute but it was not the same for Rin. She was travelling so fast, and this boy has kept his chakra signature so well-hidden that when she finally noticed him, it was too late to stop. Rin twisted on her heels, attempting to at least avoid a head-on collision but she was a Fire Country native, and the muddy terrain of Amegakure was not at her advantage.

Rin slipped, lost her footing and tumbled onto the frozen boy.

"Ouch," he moaned.

Rin gaped in horror when her hand that landed on his chest was quickly stained with fresh warm blood.

"Did I hurt you?" Rin scrambled off his much smaller body, raising her glowing hands to stop the bleeding. "Oh my god. I'm so so sorry."

"You reopen my wound," he mumbled with a strained voice, wincing as he stared at his blood-drenched shirt. "Mom is going to murder me."

As amusing as it was to hear that whiny complaint, Rin's medic-nin instinct kicked in right the next instant. She didn't wait for his permission to lift his shirt up all the way to reveal his wounded chest. The large stab wound was patched up nicely for a non-medic standard, but Rin could do better. She carefully healed his wounds, trying so hard to not pry on the scars on his small torso.

A shinobi's scars were private and intimate. It was an unspoken social code among shinobi's society to not stare at another shinobi's scars.

But it made Rin's heart clenched—to see this small body marred with so many scars. Most of it was from blade wounds but Rin could see scars from explosions too. With this kind of small frame, he was so obviously younger than her yet already has a body so full of scars.

This war has hurt so many people, regardless of age.

She healed him as best as she could, all the while extending a bit of her chakra to the surrounding to make sure that they wouldn't be attacked. She felt that strange chakra again, mingling with her depleting one as it spread her sensory range far bigger than she has ever achieved.

It felt like Isobu was supporting her from inside.

Rin quirked a grateful smile, emitting a grateful vibe to the bijuu inside her.

_Thank you, Isobu-sama._

Isobu didn't respond, of course, but his chakra grew stronger, and Rin felt her previously depleted reserve has been filled with that strange chakra.

That was a good start.

Rin was finishing up her healing when she felt something entering her sensory range. She halted her healing, tuning into her sensory range to determine who it was that was travelling so leisurely in their direction and when she couldn't decide whether that person was even a human, she decided to bolt for a head start.

"Someone is coming," she warned, for the first time looking him straight in the face.

Her heart almost stopped.

Those doe brown eyes were unfamiliar to her, nor has she ever seen the adorable handsome face with that little mole on the chin. It was the face of a complete stranger. She didn't recognise his scent either, so he couldn't be anyone that she has ever met.

Yet, her gaze landed on the single line of scar over his cloudy left eye and she was reminded of her deceased alpha.

A similar scar on a stranger's face got her all overwhelmed with grief.

How pathetic.

Rin squared her shoulders and swallowed the lump in her throat, determined to not give in to her grief. She tugged on his hand, internally whimpering at how similar it felt like when she held Kakashi's hands—smaller than her own, but roughened with the years handling so many weapons.

"We need to leave," she urged, tugging harder when he didn't budge. "Someone's coming, and I don't think they're friendly."

"I'm heading the other way," he smiled instead, pointing ahead where she knew would lead to Kiri instead of Ame. He bowed his head for a moment, brown hair grew darker as the rain grew heavier.

When he lifted his face again, Rin saw a flicker of red in his left eye.

**_"Run."_ **

Rin's breath hitched at the deep voice in her head.

 _Isobu-sama?_ She called back.

**_"Nohara Rin."_ **

The voice was clearer this time, filled with persistent urgency as the strange chakra that mingled with hers grew restless.

**_"He's dangerous. Get out of here."_ **

Rin obliged, letting go of the boy's hands and bolted away. She made a show of going slightly northeast from her original path to Ame, planning an impromptu detour to throw him off her track should he decided to pursue her. The rain would wash away her scent but more precaution is never bad. She risked a glance back to see if he was pursuing her, but he simply stood there, looking far smaller in this distance.

The boy was waving cheerfully at her.

Then he jerked his chin up, revealing gleaming red of his left eye that Rin could see from this distance. The very next second, he vanished.

Her hands moved on its own when he suddenly reappeared directly in front of her. She deflected his blade with a kunai, using her footing on the ground to grab his shoulder and threw him on the muddy ground. However, before she could pin him to the ground, he spun, using her shoulder as leverage while he attempted to drive a long black rod into her shoulder.

**_"Don't let the chakra rod touch you. And do not look at his left eye."_ **

Rin absent-mindedly nodded to Isobu's warning, sending a kick to the wound that she just healed before she retreated to keep her distance away from the boy.

Despite Isobu's warning, Rin risked a quick glimpse to his left eye and found her breath hitched in her throat again.

She has never seen a sharingan like that before.

And it seemed that she wasn't the only one unhappy with that finding. She could feel the energy inside her grew restless as Isobu's chakra flared, coating her with a deep magenta coat of protective chakra.

Having been in the same pack as Obito for years, she knew how to fight someone with a sharingan. She has sparred with Mikoto and Fugaku before. Hell, some of Obito's own suitors have even offered a spar (probably to gain some dango points from her, and as useless as those attempts were, what kind of shinobi would she and Obito be if they didn't take advantage of that?) and needless to say, Rin has spent most of her childhood learning to fight against sharingan-wielding opponent.

Despite this boy's strange sharingan, the concept should've been the same.

She kept track of his movements using his feet only to be baffled when he halted, seemingly distracted with something.

Isobu was the one who moved her away from danger when sharp tendrils of wood lurched out of the ground to skewer her. She backflipped and landed a good distance away from the boy, still shaken at the sight of the supposedly extinct mokuton only to be baffled even more when the monstrous shape of a horrible mixed-figure of a man and a plant popped out of the ground.

"I thought you said that you're only scouting?" The thing said in a playful voice that sent chills down Rin's spine. "Ne, ne, are you getting into trouble? Is getting into trouble fun?"

"I saw a stray bijuu wandering around," the boy responded with a cutesy smile, tipping his head in Rin's direction. "Why not kill two birds in the same time?"

Rin tensed up, readying her kunai to deflect any attack while Isobu's chakra thickened around her, tainting her whole vision deep magenta.

"Mother says to not rush," the thing hissed again, though this time it sounded raspier and colder. "We have not yet retrieved the necessities. We can't do anything without the proper preparation."

"Yeah, yeah~" the boy hummed with a careless shrug. "Let's consider it a test-run, how about that?"

He then turned in Rin's direction and smiled at her—all crinkled eyes and lips that curved up in an adorable smile. Such an innocent smile would have fooled her to think that he was harmless if she hasn't been attacked by him before. He vanished again, and even when Rin has prepared herself for the incoming attack, she wasn't expecting for him to suddenly appear behind her.

Rin was barely able to evade the chakra rod that he was aiming to her shoulder and found herself cornered against a rock with her palm pinned to the surface by a kunai. The boy huffed—sounding annoyed—but didn't attempt to attack her again. Instead, he leant up, his lips briefly brushed over her cheeks and his breath was warm against her ear as he promised;

"We'll meet again, Sanbi."

With that parting words, both the strange boy and the plantain creature vanished from her sight.

Rin waited to ensure that they were truly gone before she exhaled a long shaky breath.

After calming her frayed nerves, she ripped the kunai out to free herself from the rock, her breathing grew harsher as the adrenaline faded in her system. Despite having been sent to a few warzones, that was single-handedly the most intense battle she has ever been in. It was nerve-wrecking, because Rin had this vague feeling that the boy wasn't even serious. It felt like he was toying with her instead, poking her around to see how she would react to him.

Rin knew that he could've pinned her with that chakra rod if he wanted to.

He didn't, purposely letting she know that she was at his mercy.

Rin gritted her teeth. Steadying her breathing pace and her stance, Rin looked ahead towards her route to Ame. She needed Nagato as a buffer if she lost control of Isobu. She would offer Akatsuki everything that she has—information of Konoha, training against dojustu-oriented shinobi like the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, her medical skills and her own power as a jinchuuriki.

She would offer Akatsuki everything that she has as long as they remained with their dream of peace.

She would offer Akatsuki everything that she has as long as Nagato agreed to supervise her training.

She needed to train hard and she didn't need the conscience of running amok as half-manifested bijuu to disturb her training mindset. The strange boy has made it clear that he would be coming for her again. So, before that time come, Rin would train hard to work with her bijuu. She didn't feel like she was losing herself when Isobu interfered earlier. Even if her bijuu didn't like her, to an extent, she knew that Isobu could tolerate her long enough to fight alongside her.

That knowledge was enough to fuel her desire to be stronger.

The boy could come for her later.

And Rin would be ready for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It surprises me on how similar you guys think. My readers on AO3 are mostly all for RinKonan while my readers on FFnet are inclining to RinNagato. It is interesting. I'm thinking of going with RiNagato though, hence the title.
> 
> FYI, Sasuke was messing with them. Orochimaru didn't actually give Sasuke sex-ed. They just had a communal hot spring in Oto and Sasuke occasionally got a glimpse (not that he gonna tell the rest of Team 7 that.)
> 
> And boy, Sakuto better be grateful he had Sasuke's nose and SakuNaru's eyes else Rin would have a hard time trusting him.
> 
> Also, at this rate, I'm very sure that it is very obvious that the final battle was among Team Minato. And I should probably update the tag with 'Slow Burn' tag.


	11. Dai Nana Han

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise? I had this lying around, and since we have reached the end of the exposition stage (+the 10th chapter) plus the fact that it is Lunar New Year, you can consider this as a gift? lol
> 
> Enjoy~!

* * *

The epitome of friendship is that when you approved your friend’s stupid idea with confidence even though you knew absolutely nothing of that stupid idea.

Even though you kinda at the peak of a battle against a literal goddess.

Even though the stupid idea might change the future of the world.

Or the past.

Meh, same difference.

Not that Naruto cared. He trusted Kurama.

So, when Kurama warned him with a simple line of doom;

**_“Naruto, I’m going to do something stupidly reckless.”_ **

Naruto has responded with an urging smile and a fierce;

“ _Do it_.”

The world twisted, spinning round and round till everything exploded in a massive burst of light.

* * *

When Naruto woke, it was to Sakura’s screech.

“What is the meaning of this??!!”

Having been at the receiving end of her anger so many times before, Naruto immediately relaxed his body and was committed to pretending that he was still unconscious. He wouldn't be in the line of fire of her fist if he did that.

Nope nope nope. He was already hurt from the war—

“Ummphhh!!!??” Naruto sputtered when large fluffy thing smacked him flat on his whole body.

_“ **Wake up, idiot. I know you’re awake.”**_

“Kurama!!!” Naruto whined, removing the tail that was smothering him and pouted at his partner.

It took him way too long to remember that there was no way for Sakura to be at the same place as Kurama. He blinked at his massive friend, taking note of Kurama’s annoyed frown before he shifted his gaze to the red-faced fuming Sakura who was glaring death at the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Standing a few steps behind Sakura was Sasuke, looking no less battered than he was moments before Kurama did the thing, but seemed oddly relaxed for some unknown reasons.

Naruto almost considered slapping himself out of this genjutsu as Sasuke tentatively toed on one of Kurama’s tail.

He actually slapped himself when the Uchiha smirked in satisfaction and promptly flopped onto the tail.

That hurt. So, not a dream then.

Naruto held onto the tail that was smothering him just a little bit tighter, because the sight of Sasuke lying on Kurama’s tail with his eyes closed oh so peacefully and hands crossed under his head like how Shikamaru was on particularly lazy days, was honestly freaking him out.

So, if he was going down this ridiculous hell, Naruto’s gonna drag Kurama with him too.

Friends stick together after all.

“Where are we?!” Sakura yelled up to the annoyed Kyuubi. “What happened to the war? Where is everyone else?”

 _ **“I miscalculated,”**_ Kurama grunted, opening one red eye to shoot the fuming pink-haired an annoyed glare. _**“And you’re in the bijuu psyche plane.”**_

That successfully simmered Sakura down to confusion. “What?” she squeaked, looking up to Kurama with widened eyes as if she just realised that she was really interacting with Kyuubi no Kitsune. “What happened?”

To be honest, Naruto wanted to know too.

“You did something,” Sasuke snorted from his lying spot, not even bothering to open his eyes. “And it backfired.”

Kurama groaned and pulled his tail away, causing Sasuke to tumble onto the rippling water of the bijuu plane.

 _ **“I was planning to merge that old hag with the Juubi’s husk and send them away to a fading timeline,”** _Kurama growled, a bit too defensively. _**“It didn’t work as planned,”**_ he sighed, moving the tail that Naruto was holding on to pull his jinchuuriki closer to him. _**“Now we’re stuck together in here.”**_

Naruto blinked, looking up to his partner and instantly knew that Kurama was still hiding something when those huge red eyes refused to meet his gaze. Naruto released the fluffy tail in his grip and leapt up to stand on Kurama’s muzzle, extending his arms as wide as he could to bracket the bijuu’s face as he tried to coax Kurama to admit his mess-up. He knew that his partner was too proud to admit his mess-up, but he also knew that with the right encouragement, Kurama would be more inclined to share.

He also didn’t see Kakashi-sensei in here despite witnessing Kurama reaching out for his teacher before this thing happened.

“What _really_ happened?” Naruto coaxed, voice soft and gentle and he resisted a proud smile when Kurama groaned and resignation flashed in those ruby red eyes.

 ** _“The jutsu backfired. It’s not the old hag that was merged together,”_** Kurama mumbled in pure resignation, his tone was almost sulky. **_“And the Juubi’s husk exploded, shattering and rewriting the timeline. We’re thrown into the past where everything just started to heat up.”_**

Naruto frowned. “We’re thrown into the past?”

 ** _“The dog brat is a literal brat in this time period,”_** Kurama snorted. **_“The three of you are not even born yet.”_**

There was a beat of silence as they all tried to take that in.

“Mom and Dad are still alive?” Naruto squeaked out, voice hopeful.

 ** _“Minato is not the Hokage yet,_ ”** Kurama confirmed, closing his eyes when Naruto’s hands fisted in his fur **. “ _And I can sense my own self inside Kushina.”_**

More silence.

“We can save them,” Naruto breathed out once the realisation dawned onto him, his voice now fierce with joy. “We can save them all.”

"Wait, how could there be two Kyuubi at the same time?" Sakura piped in from below, yelling up to them.

“Considering what happened outside, I’m assuming that we’re a paradox?” Sasuke pointed out, seeming like he really couldn't care less as he tried to inch closer to one of the tails that were splayed out in the space. "Logic did not apply to us since we're not supposed to exist in this time period in the first place."

Kurama grunted an agreement but growled when Sasuke captured one of his tails.

Naruto wondered why the fuck Sasuke seemed so obsessed with Kurama’s tails.

Despite the warning growl, the Uchiha didn’t back away from his intention to use Kurama’s tail as a bed. Instead, Sasuke pointedly patted the fluffy fur before he promptly flopped back onto his previous sprawled state on the tail.

Only Naruto’s gentle hold on Kurama’s fur stopped the Kyuubi from retrieving his tail back from the Uchiha.

“What happened outside?” Naruto asked, distracting Kurama from considering the most painful way to swat the Uchiha brat that was abusing his tail as a makeshift bedroll. “Where is Kaka-sensei?”

Kurama grimaced.

“Naruto,” Sakura called out, and when Naruto peered down at her, she pointed ahead to somewhere in front of them.

Naruto gaped once his gaze landed on where she was pointing at.

It was like watching a TV, but from the first-person perspective rather than the usual third person point of view. He saw the rippling of water sparkling under the sunlight and it took a second later for the water to calm down and Naruto could make out the reflection in the water.

He almost swore.

It was Kakashi-sensei in the reflection, but it didn’t really look like him either. The face and eye shape seemed vaguely similar if Naruto tried to imagine a mask on top of that face, but everything else seemed so out of place. That was the face of a teenage boy in the reflection—not even one or two years older than Naruto himself—and those eyes…

Those were his and Sakura’s eyes.

His bright blue eye was on the right of the reflection while Sakura’s green was on the left.

It didn’t make Kakashi-sensei looked like Hatake Kakashi at all, moreover with the lack of scar on his left eye.

And that nose! It was the delicate slender nose of an Uchiha, the exact same nose like Sasuke and Itachi, which was a striking difference from the vague shape of the sharp strong nose that Naruto often saw hidden behind Kakashi's ever-present mask. He squinted at that vision and saw the little mole on the chin.

Neither he, Sasuke or Sakura had any beauty marks on their face.

“That’s it?! THAT’S. IT???” Naruto screeched, pointing accusingly at the vision. “HE WAS ONLY HIDING A MOLE ALL THIS TIME??

“Bummer,” Sakura shrugged, frowning as she watched the stranger in the vision inspected his face. “I was expecting something horrendous.”

“What a tragedy,” Sasuke lamented, sounding flatly amused. “Such an anti-climactic reveal.”

Before any of them could start a rant on how horrible Kakashi was for causing them years of struggle to unmask him just for the sake of that one tiny mole, the reflection in the vision moved, pushing long silver bangs off his forehead to reveal the purple diamond that was on Sakura’s forehead.

“Oh,” Naruto and Sakura breathed out the exact same time the face in the vision contorted to an expression of hysteric panic.

 ** _“He has our chakra reserve, Naruto,”_** Kurama pointed out, now curled up on his paws as he stared ahead to that vision. **_“And your seal power, Pinky.”_**

“Bet that he has my sharingan too,” Sasuke called out, pressing the tail that was attempting to swat him away over his body like some makeshift blanket. “Possibly a mixed one with Obito’s.”

They all watched in awe when the mismatched blue and green eyes morphed to a pair of sharingan with familiar patterns mashed together to become one unique sharingan.

“Called it,” Sasuke declared triumphantly as Naruto and Sakura gaped at the sight.

Then, they all stiffened as a wave of panic rippled through the mindscape. It was there for a brief moment, more like a passing breeze than a lingering presence, but it did cause all three of them to look up at Kyuubi for an explanation.

Kurama snorted. _**“He is panicking,”**_ the Kyuubi stated matter-of-factly and when the confused stare only intensified, he sighed and elaborated ** _. “The bijuu plane is connected to the host’s heart and emotions. Any strong feelings and we’re able to pick it up. If you listen carefully, you’re able to pick up his thoughts too.”_**

“Really?” Sakura murmured, walking closer towards the vision. “Are we, like, some form of bijuu now? Is Kakashi-sensei our host?”

Naruto shot a concerned look at Kurama.

 ** _“Sort of,”_** Kurama sighed. **_“I accidentally trapped your souls inside here with me while your bodies merged with his.”_**

“Hence, why he looks so young and have a piece of us in him,” Sasuke pointed out.

**_“Precisely.”_ **

“You merged _us_ together,” Naruto breathed out, sounding awed and soft in the same time.

He gazed to the panicking reflection in the vision, his smile grew soft with fondness.

When he met Kurama’s gaze, his smile was genuine as he embraced the Kyuubi’s head.

“Thank you, Kurama.”

Kurama’s eyes softened. **_“I thought you would be mad.”_**

Naruto broke the embrace and shook his head, wiping his tears away. He fisted on Kurama's fur, nuzzling at his friend's muzzle.

“I always wanted Team 7 to become one.”

* * *

“But we literally become one, though?”

“Semantics, Sakura, hush.”

“But—”

“Hush, group hug. Now.”

“Hnn.”

* * *

"Oh my god, this is the first time I see Kaka-sensei freaked out HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA"

 _“_ Naruto,” Sakura sighed, voice edging with a tone of warning.

“He flailed,” Naruto snorted, giggling maniacally. “He freaking _flailed_. He panicked and flailed OH MY GOD.”

Sakura sighed and shot a helpless glare towards the Kyuubi.

Kurama, on the other hand, despite his love towards his partner, was also at his wit’s end upon Naruto’s uncontrollable giggling as Kakashi’s adorable panic grew more and more frequent the more the Hatake tried to explore the gifts of his mixed body has provided. He shot a suffering gaze towards the equally annoyed Uchiha.

Kurama exchanged a determined glance with Sasuke.

 _ **"On the count of three?"** _he asked.

“ _Three_ ,” Sasuke hissed.

Naruto stopped laughing to blink in confusion at the darkening aura around the two.

“What?”

Naruto totally deserved it when both his teammate and his partner tried to throw him out of the mindscape.

* * *

“You know, Kurama…,” Naruto grinned, hugging one tail with one arm while the other embraced Sasuke’s shoulders. “If I can’t get rid of you when I was your jinchuuriki, you can’t get rid of me now.”

Kurama groaned, burrowing his head under his paws.

“And you, Sasuke,” Naruto giggled, ruffling Sasuke’s hair. “You have never been able to get rid of me, right?”

“That’s because you’re more stubborn than the most disgusting of wart.”

“Hey! Meanie!!”

Sakura facepalmed and banged her head to Kurama’s side.

“Idiots,” she muttered to the red fur.

Kurama silently agreed.

* * *

“Well, damn, fuck me sideways but Obito is cute.”

Both Sasuke and Naruto very slowly turned around to give Sakura an identical wide-eyed stare.

Sakura scowled.

“What?” she hissed, defensive now. “He is a cutie.”

“He is dying out there,” Naruto pointed out in pure horror, pointing towards the vision that linked them with Kakashi’s eyes, where a battered and mangled Obito was literally bleeding to death. “He is _dying_.”

“Boy still damn cute, though,” Sakura responded nonchalantly. “I can see why Kaka-sensei is so hung up over him.”

“Are we all going to ignore the fact that Kakashi is running amok out there?” Sasuke hissed, eyeing Sakura with a bit of disbelieving betrayal in his eyes. “He is slipping into the Uchiha’s curse.”

“But he is no Uchiha…?” Naruto tried to reason.

“He is part _me_ now, dobe.”

“And you’re the textbook example of the Uchiha's curse, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura snorted. “Scoot over,” she ordered, squishing herself between Sasuke and Naruto.

“Sakura-chan…?” Naruto squeaked out, sensing Sakura’s bad mood.

“Whoops, you’re gonna die~”

Naruto very discreetly inched away from Sakura as the pink-haired girl cheered on Kakashi as if she was watching a very engrossing slash-thriller show rather than their teacher running murderous rampant out there. Sasuke sighed but stood as Kakashi grew more violent. They all could sense the mad bloodlust simmering inside their teacher—a form of an emotional wave that sent uncomfortable heat all over the bijuu plane—and Kakashi's own thoughts were louder now.

Those thoughts were all _murderous._

Since Kyuubi has pointed out that the barrier between them and Kakashi was thinner when their host was being emotional, Sasuke attempted to communicate with their teacher.

“Don’t fall for it, idiot!” he yelled as loud as he could.

Outside, Kakashi halted.

“Oh,” Sakura breathed out. “He can hear us.”

_“Kyuubi?”_

Naruto and Sakura promptly stood upon hearing the first direct response from their teacher. They tried to talk to their teacher, tried to maintain the telepathic link, but Kakashi has slipped back into his ANBU mode—his emotional whiplash has calmed down—and reasonably, their voices couldn’t really reach him.

Their attempts were useless as Kakashi seemingly waited for their responses, though they had their next breakthrough when Kakashi’s calm was replaced with rageful sorrow. The barrier thinned again, and they watched, almost horrified as their teacher drove lightning-encased hand towards the trembling Iwa-nin who tried to heal Obito.

Naruto has promptly rushed towards the vision, yelling with a voice so loud it bounced off the plane;

“Don’t!”

Kakashi halted again.

Sakura stepped closer, looking up to the vision.

“That is interesting,” she mused, humming thoughtfully.

Kurama cracked one eye opened and resisted a groan.

He would never get his peace again.

* * *

“The lady is nice,” Naruto started, shifting his gaze from the vision towards his teammates. “But, don’t you think that she is a bit…”

“Cuckoo?” Sasuke suggested, this time didn’t try to act aloof as he indulged in his own confusion. “Is Obito a girl in this time period?”

“I think so…,” Sakura piped in with a deeper frown. “What the hell is this omega and alpha thing?”

"That is the hierarchy thing in a wolf pack, right?" Naruto asked.

"Inuzuka and Hatake too," Sasuke said, scowling at the Iwa woman in Kakashi's vision. "They were the only old clans that practised those things because of their close ties with canines."

“And the fact that they were partly descended from Inugami,” Sakura added, shrugging when her teammates shifted their bewildered gaze at her. “Tsunade-sama told me that some of the old clans breed with gods.”

“Ehhh…really????” Naruto asked.

“She said that Hashirama-sama’s was descended from a nature spirit,” Sakura said with another shrug. “But her blood was diluted when her father married a civilian-born shinobi, so that’s why she didn’t inherit the mokuton.”

“I don’t know that,” Naruto murmured, and though Sasuke didn’t say anything, his deepened frown seemed to agree with Naruto’s confession.

“It’s the Warring Era thing, I guess,” Sakura shrugged. “They wanted to create stronger soldiers, so some of Clan Heirs who wanted a bigger shot to become the Clan Head would venture into the other side to find a spouse. Senju Butsuma was particularly infamous of breeding with multiple deities.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Shit, were our previous Hokage demigods?”

Sakura shrugged again at Naruto’s outburst.

“It could be a legend, though,” she hummed dismissively. “There is no confirmation."

Sasuke pondered on that thought, mind reeling back on how powerful the Nidaime’s chakra has felt like despite the man was resurrected without reaching the full power of his prime. Orochimaru resurrected the Hokage as best as he could, but he couldn’t give the previous Hokage the full power of their prime else they would be impossible to control.

To think that Tobirama would be _that_ scary when he wasn’t even at full power…

The Edo Tensei Nidaime only lifted _one measly finger_ and his chakra already felt like he could level a nation with a flick of his hand.

It terrified Sasuke senseless.

(Not that he was gonna ever admit that.)

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Sasuke blurted out, face pale and slickened with a sheen of cold sweat. “And I have never heard any of such legends about the Uchiha. Just that our ancestors tamed the fire and all similar legends.”

“Does baa-chan mention anything about the Uzumaki?” Naruto asked, leaning in curiously. “Shodai-sama married an Uzumaki, right?”

“Shishou didn’t say anything about Mito-sama,” Sakura shook her head apologetically.

 ** _“Mito was descended from a dragon,”_** Kurama answered out of the blue. **_“Not as much deity blood as Madara and the Senju brothers, but a piece of her was not human,”_** he huffed, cracking one eye open to shoot Sakura a pointed gaze. **“ _Your brat of a sensei probably inherited her side of blood rather than Hashirama’s. Dragon’s hatchlings were exceptionally strong.”_**

They all stared up at the Kyuubi with utter shock and bafflement.

Kurama frowned, growling defensively.

**_“What?”_ **

Naruto pouted.

“Dude, you can’t just confirm that when we wanted to believe everything as a legend.”

Kurama rolled his eyes.

* * *

“So, based on the current evidence, we have to yell for our voices to reach him…,” Naruto concluded, whispering at Kurama (and standing far far away from the focused Sakura) as they sat back and allow Sakura the full reign to guide their sensei healing Obito.

 ** _“It would have been easier if he is fully expecting to talk to you,”_** Kurama huffed, resting his head on his paws and closed his eyes when Naruto curled against his face. **_“Remember how easy it was for you to communicate with me once you have accepted me?”_**

“It worked like that too?”

**_“More or less.”_ **

“Oh, that’s nice,” Naruto hummed, threading his fingers through Kurama’s fur. “I’m glad that we’re stuck together,” he murmured absent-mindedly.

Kurama snorted but leant his head a little bit closer to Naruto’s back.

However, before Naruto could retort with a teasing jibe, Sakura swore.

“That is not supposed to be there. What the fuck?”

Naruto was up in an instant, trotting towards the frowning Sakura. Sasuke seemed to have an internal debate whether he should move away from his comfortable curl against Kurama’s side, before deciding that he should and joined them together right in front of the vision that linked them to Kakashi’s sight. They tuned into Kakashi’s senses, seeing what that has gotten Sakura so surprised.

“Is that—?” Sasuke started.

“Yes.”

“But—” Naruto gaped.

“I know.”

“What the fuck,” both boys said in unison.

“Wait, I’ll check,” Sakura murmured and planted her hands on the floor.

Naruto could sense that Sakura was trying to manipulate Kakashi’s chakra, utilising their sensei’s own bafflement to allow her the free reign to check the sheer absurdity of Obito’s body. While Sakura focused on confirming their assumption, Naruto squinted at the vision, trying to see if this Obito was really born as a girl. Obito’s jaw was softer and rounder than the one that Naruto remembered, but that could probably be attributed to his young age and baby fats rather than the facial structure of a girl. Naruto has never seen Obito as a child after all, and the man that he fought during the Fourth War was well into his early thirties and has long shed every baby fat that he should have at the age of fourteen.

But Sakura sensed the shape of a womb inside Obito.

What the actual fricking frack is happening right now?

Casting a quick glance towards his partner proved useless as Kurama simply shrugged in a quick response that told them even the bijuu has no idea what the fuck was happening outside. Sakura breathed in triumphantly when she was able to manipulate Kakashi’s glowing hands lower to check for their confirmation. Hearing that triumphal noise, Naruto and Sasuke promptly leant closer as Sakura forced Kakashi’s chakra to wrap around Obito’s hips.

Then, the three of them gaped in utter bewilderment.

“WHAT THE FUCK.”

Outside, Kakashi echoed their outburst.

* * *

"I'm so tired of yelling!"

Kyuubi snorted, opening an eye to stare at the fuming girl that was yelling at the Hatake brat. He folded his ears, going back to his nap when Naruto and Sasuke moved to hold back their frustrated female teammate.

"He can't hear us if we don't yell," Naruto tried to placate. "Kurama said so."

"But I'm tired of yelling," Sakura pouted, kicking the air. "And why wouldn't he just strip Obito?? I want to know how the hell Obito would have an actual womb!"

"Because that would be so rapist-ish," Sasuke huffed, toeing one of the fluffy tail that was spread out across the mindscape. He flopped down onto the fur, pointedly ignoring Kurama's annoyed grunt. "Let him be."

"You're oddly fine with this, Sasuke...," Naruto mumbled.

"Because we couldn't do anything," Sasuke yawned. "Waste of time to regain our bodies back."

 _ **"Keh,"** _Kurama huffed. **_"You just have a kick out from your sensei's suffering, brat."_**

Sasuke didn't deny that one.

"Ugghhh!!!!" Sakura yelled, pulling on her own hair. "STRIP HIM, KAKA-SENSEI. I WANNA SEE IF HE HAS A VAGINA."

Naruto sweatdropped.

* * *

“You seemed oddly chill after sort of seeing a guy’s privates, Sakura.”

“I’m a medic nin.”

“And that is supposed to matter because….?”

“I trained in the hospital and have seen literally _everything,_ Sasuke- _kun_.”

“Oh.”

* * *

"Holy shit," Sakura mouthed, turning to look at her teammates the moment Kyuubi cut off their connection with Kakashi's eyes. "Holy. Shit."

"Awh," Naruto pouted. "We are actually that strong if we combined our powers together....," he mumbled, kicking the air.

 _ **"Too bad that your teamwork is worse than my brotherhood with Shukaku,"** _Kurama commented, muzzle pulled to a smug smirk as he side-eyed Sasuke. _**"Ne, little Uchiha?"**_

Sasuke rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring Sakura's accusing eyes and Naruto's sad sulky pout. He then sniffed delicately.

"Shut up, kitsune."

* * *

“Naruto, stop sulking.”

Naruto turned around to give both Sakura and Sasuke the good ol’ dirty look before he angrily returned to his sulking on top of Kurama’s head.

“Naruto,” Sakura called out.

“If we worked in a team since the beginning, we would have been hella powerful like sensei right now,” Naruto grumbled, before he stood on top of Kurama’s head and pointed accusing fingers towards his teammates. “But nooooo. One of you decided to leave the team while the other one didn’t want to work with the stupid, dead last, Naruto.”

“Naruto,” Sasuke sighed.

“My teammates are assholes,” Naruto ranted, holding on to Kurama’s furs. “My sensei is perpetually late to everywhere and favoured one student over the rest,” he screeched, causing both Sakura and Sasuke to flinch. “One of my teammates is so wound up with hatred that HE DIDN’T SEE HOW BAD I WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH HIM. LIKE AN IDIOT, I CHASED AFTER HIM EVEN THOUGH HE DID NOTHING BUT HURT ME. AND GUESS WHAT? I STILL LOVE YOU LIKE THE BROTHER I NEVER HAD, MORON.”

Sasuke flinched.

“And, oh, let’s not forget my other teammate, shall we?” Naruto was not finished, nope, he was definitely not finished. “I knew that my love to her is one-sided, and fine, it took years for me to get over my crush and notice the love from someone else who has always loved me. I know it was annoying to have an idiot like me crushing on you, and I’M SORRY. BUT DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE MEAN TO ME ALL THE TIME? WHY DO YOU SAY THAT YOU LOVE ME WHEN YOU DIDN’T? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HIT ME? ARE YOU EVEN AWARE ON HOW STRONG YOU ARE? YOUR PUNCHES HURT LIKE HELL, OKAY?”

Sakura lowered her gaze.

Naruto huffed and buried his snot-infested face into Kurama’s fur.

Kurama resisted a groan but couldn’t help but burrow his face under his paws.

He was too old for this.

* * *

“I just want a family…,” Naruto sniffled, again smearing Kurama’s fur with tears and snot. “When I first see you, I thought we could relate and be friends, cuz we’re both orphan and all.”

Sasuke grimaced but forced his body to relax all the same. It took them an impossibly long time to pry Naruto away from the Kyuubi, and even more time to coax the sulking blonde into a group hug. Naruto has always been a bright ball of sunshine—so cheerful, strong-willed and stubborn—that it didn’t even cross Sasuke’s mind that Naruto was capable of feeling offence and holding that offence forever in his mind. 

Kakashi’s training in Uzushio has opened their eyes to _possibilities_ —to their own unexplored potentials as a _team_.

It ached to know that they would not be able to achieve it for real.

The consecutive sequence of attacks that Kakashi constructed using their combined attributes and techniques would’ve been epic if it was done in a team of four instead of one lone man merged from the power and bodies of four different people. Sasuke only learnt the satisfaction of good teamwork when he worked with Naruto against Juubito and seeing from Kakashi’s eyes the potentials they could have worked on _together_ instead of against one another….

It ached.

It really ached.

A lost potential.

Sakura shifted, pulling Naruto close to their centre while squishing herself to Sasuke’s side.

Sasuke stared at the hunched form of his teammates.

He hurt both of these people.

He trampled over Sakura’s heart, dismissing her love in favour of his own hatred and despite that, she still loved him, perhaps no longer romantically, because her gaze on him has lost the devoted love that has always been there since their Academy years—he apparently has trampled over her feelings way too much for that to remain—but from the way she held both him and Naruto close, snuggled up against Kyuubi’s side like this, it was evident that there was still a form of love in her for him.

Shifting his gaze from pink locks to blonde spikes, Sasuke couldn’t help but resisted a flinch.

He treated Naruto even worse than Sakura.

He didn't only trample over Naruto's heart—crushing the blonde's yearning to be friends and brothers to him—but he has hurt the blonde in so many ways. Blood has been spilt, flesh being torn apart, time wasted and so many other pains he has intentionally inflicted on his friend.

Yet, Naruto still loved him. Naruto still wanted to be friends.

Naruto still wanted to be _brothers._

To know that they were reincarnations of actual brothers, the reincarnation of Indra and Ashura—brothers broken apart by hatred, greed and envy—it made holding the blonde in his arms meant more than a mere group hug to placate a sulking friend.

He has lost Itachi.

But looking down at his teammates, both were tucked close in his arms and snuggled to his chest, Sasuke felt something warm grew in his chest.

He has not lost Sakura and Naruto yet.

Deep down, Sasuke knew that he wanted a family too.

He wanted to feel _belonged_ too.

* * *

“The Sanbi’s name is Isobu?”

Naruto blinked, shifting his gaze away from their links to Kakashi’s vision towards Sakura.

It was odd, because after his own outburst the other day (which was then followed by long sulking and group hug) there was a major shift in the dynamic of their relationship. Both Sasuke and Sakura grew more tactile and less mean to him. The only insults thrown his way was more of a fond joking rather than something that was meant to offend.

They joked and messed around with each other a lot nowadays. They exchanged comforting touches more frequent than usual—little shoulder bumps and nudge from Sasuke, while Sakura no longer hesitated to reach out to hug them both when Naruto was craving for a human touch.

It was kinda nice.

And they slept together nowadays too. They no longer separate to sleep on different parts of Kurama’s body, but instead has chosen to pile together in the crook of Kurama’s arms while the bijuu napped with his head aligned with their piled tangled bodies.

Sasuke was still tensed around intimate comforting touches, but he was more receptive to it now.

Sakura was more open in giving comforting touches now and has substituted her usual violence with fond bopping and forehead flicking.

Two years ago, Naruto wouldn’t even dream to have Sakura freely leaning on his shoulders—already halfway to sleep—while Sasuke was lying with his head over Naruto’s sprawled legs, also already halfway to sleep.

(Of course, two years ago, he didn’t expect that he would be trapped in the bijuu plane with his teammates, watching over their sensei wreaking havoc on the outside world through whatever link that connected them to Kakashi’s sight like how one would watch an engrossing TV show.)

It was really nice.

“Mmhmm,” Naruto nodded to her groggy question. “They all have nice names.”

“Kitsune’s Kurama?” Sasuke mumbled sleepily.

“Yep.”

Kurama huffed.

“What’s the others’ names?” Sakura asked again, reaching over Naruto’s lap to thread her fingers in Sasuke’s hair.

“The other bijuu?” Naruto prompted, just for confirmation.

“Mmm,” Sakura affirmed with a sleepy nod.

Naruto grinned mischievously, lacing his fingers with hers when she reached out for his hand as his other hand joined Sakura’s lazy strokes in Sasuke’s hair. Then, he started singing;

_“One, “sleep is better than humans,” says Shukaku,_

_Two, burning in fire, Matatabi,_

_Three, leave the water to Isobu,_

_Four, hot as lava, Son Goku,_

_Five, always on the run, Kokuo,_

_Six, taking it easy and not in hurry, Saiken,_

_Seven, the flying insect, Chomei,_

_Eight, “Yeah!” is all it needs, Gyuuki,_

_Nine, “Ko-kon!” cries the mighty Kurama,_

_All the tailed beasts have finally come together,_

_They’re a little hard but they’re nice names,_

_They’re all splendid names,_

_They’re all wonderful names.”_

Sasuke snorted once Naruto finished singing.

“You make a song for them,” he mused, rolling around so that Sakura and Naruto have more access to his hair.

“Is it a good song?” Naruto grinned.

Sasuke huffed, said nothing, but there was a tiny smile on his face.

Sakura giggled. “It is.”

Naruto leant back against Kurama’s body as they watched over Kakashi, Sakura’s humming of the bijuu song was a pleasant background noise in the mindscape.

* * *

“Hey, did you guys notice that we don’t have to yell to talk to sensei now?” Sakura mused out of the blue, the edge of humour was still on her face as she watched Sasuke’s silent sniggers and Naruto’s howling laughter subsided to calm giggling. “Like, we only have to intend to talk to him and he would hear us. And we can even show him our memories?”

“Oh,” Naruto snorted, struggling a bit to hold back his laughter but was failing at it when his gaze fell to their link to Kakashi’s eyes and saw Obito’s fuming red face. “Kurama said something that when sensei accepted our presence, it would be much easier to communicate with him.”

“Thank god,” Sasuke grinned, swallowing in the remnants of his snickers. “That was hilarious.”

Sakura rolled her eyes.

Sasuke shot her a leering knowing look. “You enjoyed trolling him too.”

“It isn’t every day I get to fluster a full-grown man over the horror of period,” Sakura huffed, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “And it’s funny.”

“Point,” Sasuke nodded triumphantly.

Sakura quirked a smile.

Naruto was still wheezing in laughter.

Kurama fondly rolled his eyes.

* * *

“Is it me, or Kakashi is a worse ball of angst than me?”

“You’re a ball of angst AND anger, Sasuke.”

“Sakura, I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Sasuke groaned. Naruto giggled.

Though, Naruto’s giggles winded down to a soft smile not long after that, his gaze stared ahead towards their link to Kakashi’s eyes, his shoulders hunched upon the waves of emotions that vibrated from their sensei into the bijuu plane.

“He went through a lot, hasn’t he?” he murmured, seeing Obito through their sensei’s eyes.

It was painful to watch.

It was even more painful to _feel_.

“He lost everything,” Sasuke added, his expression went crestfallen for a moment before it shifted to a flat poker face, though there was a sheen of deep thoughts glazed in his eyes. “Yet he chose a different path than mine.”

**_“Make it hard to see him as that laidback, lazy jerk anymore, eh?”_ **

“Everyone coped differently,” Naruto defended, sending a pout in Kurama’s direction before he squared his shoulders and tried to beam brightly. “Make me respect him even more now.”

Sakura’s gaze softened too. “We'll try for a happier end for him," she decided, determination coloured her cheeks as stubbornness burnt in her eyes. "We'll help him fight. We'll help him save his friends and family. We’ll make sure he has his happy end this time.”

Naruto beamed brighter this time. Sasuke huffed and curled a smirk.

“Might as well,” the Uchiha shrugged. “We don’t have anything to do anyway.”

“Yosh!” Naruto cheered, bright blue eyes glowed in burning determination. “Team 7, new mission! Let’s secure a happy end for Kakashi-sensei!”

Sasuke smirked. “Hnn.”

Sakura grinned. “Mm!”

Kurama huffed, gazing at the trio with fond eyes.

* * *

_“Sakuto._ ”

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a confused look.

"First day of the lunar month?" Naruto blurted out, honestly so confused at their sensei's choice of name.

“I was under the impression that he would go with his father’s name,” Sasuke mused.

“Sakuto is pretty close to Sakumo, though,” Sakura countered. “Maybe he changed the last syllable to avoid suspicions?”

Before any of the boys could strike up an argument, Kurama chuckled, successfully halting their arguments. They turned around to shoot the bijuu a confused gaze, only to blink in wariness when the bijuu mimed the gesture of silence.

**_“Listen.”_ **

Thus, they did, falling into dead silence as they tried to perk up their sense to pick up Kakashi’s thoughts.

 **_Saku_** _mo_ _and Obi **to**._

“Oh,” Naruto breathed once they picked up on that thought.

 **_Sa_** _suke_ _, Sa **ku** ra, Naru **to**._

 _That_ , had all three of them to freeze in shock. They heard that thought crystal clear, along with the emphasis of each syllable from their name that was taken to form Kakashi’s new alias.

"He made a name out of our names," Naruto breathed out, his voice was a trembling whisper of horrified awe. "He made a name out of _our_ names,” he repeated, lips trembling.

“Oh my god, sensei,” Sakura whimpered, hands twitching as if she wanted to reach out and embrace their sensei right now. “That’s so sweet and thoughtful.”

Sasuke remained in silence, eyes still widened in disbelieving shock.

“That’s so, so, sweet,” Naruto murmured, already tearing up. “I don’t know he cared about us that much,” he whimpered, exhaling a deep breath before he wiped his eyes with his sleeves. “Oh my god, Kaka-sensei,” he exhaled, forcing a tiny grin out.

Sasuke seemed like he was in a daze as he shifted his gaze towards Kurama, looking so lost and shocked.

“That wasn’t you, right?” he asked the Kyuubi no Kitsune. “You didn’t do this to mess with us, right?”

**_“Do I look that bored, brat?”_ **

Sasuke blinked, shifted his gaze to his hands, before moving his lost gaze to the vision of smiling Obito as seen from their sensei’s eyes.

“Sasuke?” Sakura and Naruto prompted.

“I disappointed him. He trained me and I betrayed him,” Sasuke breathed out, sounding so lost and horrified. “Why he includes me too?”

Kurama swatted Sasuke’s back with a massive fluffy tail.

**_“Because you’re his student too.”_ **

They all pretended to not see the glazed look in Sasuke’s eyes as Naruto pulled everyone (including Kurama’s muzzle) into a group hug.

* * *

“Yooooo, Kaka-sensei nailed that evil insane laugh.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes judgementally. “I think he can work on the evilness, but he did great in playing that insane part.”

“Obito looks terrified,” Sasuke deadpanned.

“Who wouldn’t?” Sakura countered back. “That is scary.”

“Is it?”

“Sasuke, you have never heard your own laughter, have you?”

“Tch,” Sasuke huffed, flicking two fingers at Naruto’s forehead. “My laughter is fine.”

“Insane fine, you mean,” Naruto huffed, grinning even when he rubbed his bruised forehead.

“I don’t know…,” Sakura pondered, giving Sasuke a critical once-over. “The Uchiha kinda have the mad laughter perfected to the T,” she added teasingly. "Do you remember how Obito laughed? Madara too? They are the masters of the villainous evil laugh."

Sakura smoothly evaded Sasuke’s hands when the Uchiha reached out to flick her forehead.

“Was Kaka-sensei’s sudden mad laugh a side-effect of being merged with Sasuke’s body?” Naruto pondered out loud, teasing too, as reflected from the mischief in his eyes and the gleeful quirk of his grin.

“Oi.”

“Probably,” Sakura agreed. “His laugh kinda reminded me when Sasuke laughed that one time he claimed that he wanna kill us all.”

“Oiii.”

“Which one?” Naruto frowned. “He claimed to kill us all in multiple events.”

“God damn it, you two.”

* * *

“Eyyyyy, Kakashi-sensei’s thoughts are hella depressing,” Naruto commented, wincing as they all once again got a glimpse of their sensei’s tragic memories.

“You know, if we ever got out, the first thing I wanna do is force Sandaime to enforce a new rule so that all war veteran needed to undergo therapies. This is so painfully depressing,” Sakura fumed, turning her gaze towards Naruto. “And I’m gonna punch your dad because no reasonable adult would put a grieving child with major PTSD, who literally watched one friend died and killed the other with his own hands, into ANBU—NO REASONABLE ADULT WOULD PUT SUCH TRAUMATISED CHILD INTO A LITERAL ASSASSIN SQUAD.”

“I punched him once before, if that would placate you,” Naruto said, crossing his arms behind his head in a completely uncaring relaxed manner “Not gonna stop you to punch him for the second time, because as much as I adore my dad, this is bullshit. He didn’t handle Kaka-sensei well.”

"Can you punch Sandaime too while you're at it? He kinda made Itachi killed the whole clan instead of going with a more peaceful, less bloody path," Sasuke randomly pointed out, voice bitter. "And he also let Danzou do whatever the hell he wanted. Bad leadership. Old man is too soft.”

 ** _"Hashirama's solution to the Go-Kage's protest of Konoha having a jinchuuriki was to hunt all other bijuu and gave us away like a peace offering,"_** Kurama piped in. **_“My siblings would have been free if he just stopped at me.”_**

“I’m gonna punch Shodai-sama too then,” Sakura hissed.

“Ooooh, do it!” Naruto cajoled, mischief gleamed in his eyes. “He wouldn’t see it coming. Sasuke and I will distract the Old Man Second so that you won’t be stopped.”

Sasuke nodded grimly.

“The adults suck,” Sakura lamented.

“Agreed.”

* * *

“I want to very lovingly pat Kaka-sensei’s head with a brick.”

Sakura glared at Naruto. “Get in line. I claim first.”

“His self-blaming is getting out of line,” Sasuke huffed, annoyance dripping from each syllable. “I understand that survivor’s guilt is a thing but this—”

“This is bullshit,” Naruto finished.

“Yep.”

“You couldn’t say it any better,” Sakura agreed. “This is utter bullshit,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “What kind of normal people would shrug off his own death just like this?? This is insane!”

“Oh, my younger self died!” Sasuke mocked, voice going higher in hysterics as he acted out his sheer frustration. “Oh well, nothing can be done. Let’s rescue everyone else and completely ignore the fact that MY OWN YOUNGER SELF DIED,” he added, mimicking Kakashi’s deeper voice. “God damn it, Kakashi. What the actual fuck, you lazy pervert.”

“He wants everyone to be happy and safe yet completely disregard his own share of happiness in that future,” Naruto sighed, wiping his brows with both of his palms before attempted to pull his hair out due to the sheer frustration their sensei’s selfless masochistic behaviour has inflicted on him. “I don’t even think that we’re a living being at this point, yet I could’ve died of stress attack right now.”

"This mission is harder than it seems," Sakura pouted, pacing in methodical line in front of her teammates. "How could we secure a happy future for him when he didn't care about it?"

There was a dreadful silence.

 ** _“You fight back,”_** Kurama suddenly mused, red eyes glinted in a taunting challenge. **_“If making him happy is your mission, your biggest villain is him. Fight him like how you fought Juubito. Fight him like how you fought Madara. The three of you are stubborn fighters.”_**

He eyed Naruto near the end, muzzle pulled up to a knowing smirk.

Naruto huffed and quirked a smile.

“And we never give up, right?” Naruto grinned, raising his fist towards Kurama.

Kurama closed his eyes and nodded approvingly.

Hatake wouldn’t know what would hit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you know what Team 7 has been up to during the time Kakashi conquering the spotlight. 
> 
> And I was half-convinced that at least the Warring Era generation is sort of demigods. Minato was insanely strong in the last war because he has half of Kyuubi inside him. Without the Kyuubi, he would've be like Sarutobi, and although I do think that they are strong, but TobiHashiMada made they looked like academy children. And although people has been saying that Minato was the strongest Hokage, but looking at the zombie Hokage, and saw the part where Orochimaru admitted that he resurrected dem Hokage _close_ to the strength of their prime, made me think that TobiHashi would be far scarier and more powerful than SaruMinato if they were resurrected in full power and Minato didn't have the Kyuubi. Just my personal thoughts tbh lol
> 
> As for Naruto saying something about first day of lunar month, I was referring to the meaning of the name Sakuto that I found online. ([Here](https://www.behindthename.com/name/sakuto/submitted))
> 
> I also found this site that give some kind of personality analysis of this name and I thought it was so cool too. ([Sakuto](http://www.meaningslike.com/lastnames/name-stands-for/sakuto))
> 
> P/s:I also am deeply in love and obsessed with the bijuu song tbh.


	12. Well, that escalated quickly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Schedule update is still once per two weeks. This one came out early because I have some extra free time to complete a chapter during Lunar New Year break and couldn't wait to share it with you.
> 
> Enjoy.

* * *

Humans never cease to impress.

Give them the right motivation—a reason to fight—and humanity would exceed all expectations to achieve their goals. Kaguya has expected a tougher challenge to guide her new son to betray the village he so desperately fought for, but human's own love and lust for war has made it a terribly easy task for her.

Madara might be useless, but Danzou was useful.

Kaguya curled her fingers around the worn parchment, feeling the wrinkles and creases over the surface—a result from being held in a small grip for _days_ —before she kept the scroll safe in one of her pocket dimensions. It has served its purpose, but she was going to keep it anyway, just in case if her new son needed motivational boost should he somehow wavered midway.

The love that Kakashi had for his father was so adorably endearing.

It caused her to quirk a tiny smile, silently thankful that Zetsu wasn’t such a disappointment like the first time around. This Zetsu has a better understanding of human’s feelings, allowing him to act accordingly to cement Kakashi’s anger against his former village.

At least in this time, the manifestation of her will has acted smartly to trigger Kakashi into the path they both intended for the boy to take.

The guilt that one of Hatake Sakumo's comrade suffered after the failed mission, along with Danzou’s meticulous needs of giving detailed instructions to ensure the success of his heinous traitorous deeds were proven useful to push her little boy.

A simple encrypted message detailing the specifics of White Fang’s mission and the order to secure its failure was all that it was needed to turn the most loyal dog against their own master.

Kakashi’s adamant persistence to return to Konoha died instantly the moment he wrestled the scroll from Zetsu and read the whole content. Kaguya saw the anguish that befallen the boy, the way mismatched eyes widened in shock, the way Kakashi’s jaw slacked open once he finally registered Konoha’s betrayal to his father before everything was drowned with pure grief.

She has held his small body in her embrace, rocking him on her lap as he sobbed and grieved to her chest.

Humans never cease to impress.

Danzou arranged for White Fang’s mission to fail.

Konoha pushed Hatake Sakumo to suicide.

Little did they know that those acts would be the last nail to their coffin.

Kakashi has spent his recovery time by grieving.

He cried. He screamed. He threw tantrums.

He never let go of that encrypted message.

Every time Kaguya dropped by to visit him in his chamber, his eyes would be red and swollen. Tears streaked down his unmasked cheeks, and he didn't even try to pretend that he wasn't crying. The tears never stopped, but only mellowed down to sobs and sniffles when he nodded off to sleep instead.

The boy spent his calmer moments trembling in the cocoon of his blankets, holding on to the worn parchment with a deadly grip.

Kakashi would only crawl out of his cocoon when Kaguya sat by his bed, climbing onto her lap to desperately cling to her as he grieved to her chest.

It was so pathetic, it was sad.

On the fourth day of grieving—merely a week after she took him into her care—things changed.

Kaguya was looking over her balcony, gazing across the horizon of snow as she basked in the warm glow of sunrise. She has sent Zetsu away to retrieve some food for her human son and wasn’t expecting any company in the next hour or so.

That was the moment Kakashi approached her with a set of folded kimono of commoner’s colours.

She almost snapped at the silent insult, only to hold herself back upon noticing that the grief was gone from his eyes.

There was no sadness. No sorrow. No grief. None of that betrayed pain that he displayed during his grieving.

Only pure wrath simmered in his mismatched eyes now.

Intrigued, she found herself obliging to his quiet words, slightly entranced at the cold determination that rang in each syllable of his words and the anger that laced his voice. He waited outside as she redressed into that commoner’s kimono.

It impressed her that he has been respectful enough to her noble status to weave genjutsu into the fabric, making it seemed worn and old but still felt like luxury kimono against her skin.

She hasn’t even taught him how to use the rinnegan sharingan and yet he was already able to weave a potent genjutsu.

Humans never cease to impress.

When she finished dressing and called him in, Zetsu walked with him.

Or at least, the white half of Zetsu that has been keeping the boy company for the past few days.

The manifestation of her will has separated from its host, now merely a black blob that has made its home under Kakashi’s left sleeve, wrapping around his forearm like an arm guard. She raised an eyebrow at the white Zetsu—Shiro, as named by Kakashi—and noted on the modification done to him.

Shiro seemed so happy at his new look.

The white Zetsu kept stealing glances at the reflective ice walls, poking on his now flesh-coloured skin and ruffling his own brown hair with childish glee as if his current human appearance was a gift that he cherished. The simple-minded creature even bounced on his steps, trailing after Kakashi like a smitten puppy.

“Kashi?” she questioned, gazing down to meet his gaze.

“Kuro told me that you have a plan to end the war,” he responded, reaching out one small hand to tug her down, manoeuvring her to sit on the bed. “Something about capturing the bijuu and harnessed their power to awaken the chakra tree?”

“Yes,” she affirmed, face not betraying her internal surprise when she felt strong chakra weaving into her hair, wrapping her long hair with the same potent genjutsu on her kimono. “Kashi-kun, what—?”

“I have a plan for that,” he grunted as the mattress sank a little right behind her. “We’re going to end this war, Mom.”

Confused and intrigued, Kaguya sat silently on the bed that she has never even used, resisting the odd warmth in her chest when those small roughened hands thread in her long hair. She saw how his genjutsu has changed the colour and length of her hair to that of deep caramel that would bounce over her waist if she stood, and this intricate change prompted her to remain silence as he started braiding her hair.

It actually felt nice, to have those warm small hands in her hair.

It reminded her a lot to toddler Hamura and Hagoromo. They used to play with her hair like this too—back then when they weren’t turning their swords and power against her.

“What do you have in mind, my boy?” she hummed, closing her eyes at the pleasant tug on her hair.

“We’re taking over Kiri,” he said, letting out a frustrated noise as she felt his hands carefully untangling half of the braid that he was working on. “Sorry, Mom,” he murmured, breath warm at the top of her head.

She felt that pleasant gentle tug again as he tightened the braid.

“It has been a long time since I braid someone’s hair,” Kakashi admitted, sounding a bit frustrated.

Kaguya remembered his memories, of which when his younger self would haphazardly braid Hatake Sakumo’s hair—a kind of mobility exercise for toddler Kakashi and bonding time between the father and son—and despite the second-hand sadness she felt upon remembering that, she used that memory to tailor her response.

“I know,” thus, she softened her voice to mimic that of a melancholy tone, allowing mournful sadness to leak into her words. “You’re saying something about taking over Kiri?” She redirected the conversation then, intrigued at his plan. “Why Kiri?”

It was odd that he didn’t intend to exact revenge and take over his former village.

“They practiced matriarchy,” Kakashi answered in a small huff. “They’re the only nation that practiced matriarchy, remember?” he added, gathering her braided hair to rest on her left shoulder.

The weight behind her disappeared as he scrambled off the bed to stand facing her, and Kaguya resisted an amused smile when he gently tugged some strands loose from the braid, arranging the loose strands to frame her face.

“You intend to use their army for our goals,” she mused, allowing the impressed tone to leak into her voice.

“We can’t fight the world with just the two of us, Mom,” he retorted with a roll of his eyes. “We need an army.”

She didn’t bring up the Zetsu army she knew was sleeping underground.

“It’s either Kiri or Kumo,” Kakashi murmured, frowning at her hair as if there was something about the arrangement of her now caramel hair that irked his mind. “The two of them and Konoha made the top three strongest nations in the shinobi world.”

“You chose Kiri because of their matriarchy system?”

"That," he nodded, pulling a section of the hair from the braid to frame her face. "And the fact that their army is vicious and fearless," he shrugged, retreating to frown at her hairdo. He leant closer again, tucking one strand over her ear and pressed the hair against her temple as if he was considering pinning them there.

Kaguya hummed, closing her eyes again when his small hands brushed over her cheeks to arrange her bangs.

“The Seven Swordsmen? All of them are traditionally either omega or beta females. The current Mizukage is an omega. Their commanders are mostly mothers,” Kakashi listed down absent-mindedly, still toying with the arrangements of her hair even as he added, “Their main motivation to fight is the maternal protectiveness, hence why they are so viciously strong.”

Opening her eyes, Kaguya raised an eyebrow in contemplative confusion.

Kakashi quirked a tiny smug smirk.

“A single mother,” he said, gesturing at her before motioning towards the modified Zestu at the corner as he added, “with a mentally-retarded son,” he paused to give her a smirk before gesturing at himself, “and a younger son who is blind in one eye.”

Kaguya’s eyes widened.

“We’d have easier time infiltrating them and gaining their trust than Kumo,” he retreated again, releasing her hair in the process. “It’s better to be welcomed with open arms rather than at the tip of their swords. You know that it’d take time and effort to put everyone under a genjutsu, and even _that_ doesn’t guarantee that some of them wouldn’t fight to break our control.”

“But your genjutsu is powerful, Kashi,” she hummed, smoothening her hands over the edge of her kimono to emphasise her point, testing him in the same time too. “You have my rinnegan sharingan now.”

“So is their will, Mom,” he countered with a frown. “You can’t underestimate someone’s will and personal drive. They could be exceptionally troublesome if we’re not careful in handling them.”

Kaguya smiled at the thought that she has chosen the right human to execute her plan this time.

Wrath-driven Hatake Kakashi has more understanding of human’s emotions than the hatred-driven Uchiha Madara.

Same needs for revenge, same drive to stop the war, yet their way of execution was significantly different. It was amusingly impressive to hear this little boy weighed the pros and cons of his own plan, taking accounts of little details of humanity’s quirks that she—as an ethereal celestial being—didn’t bother to consider.

She has chosen the right tool this time.

“It’s better if our illusion is created with the foundation of trust,” Kakashi resumed, oblivious to her silent appraising. “That way, even if they’re able to break free, there will be lingering doubt for them to instantly turn against us since we already gained their trust in the first place,” he looked up to meet her gaze, eyes crinkled in a playful smile. “Those few seconds of doubts and confusion are vital chances for us to put them back under our control.”

Kaguya reached out a hand to ruffle his fluffy silver spikes.

Humans never cease to impress.

“And Mom? I think you need a hairpin.”

Kaguya huffed a silent laughter.

Humans really never cease to impress.

* * *

“If we’re going to travel together, I demand to be let outside.”

Obito said that with a firm voice, moments after Sakuto reappeared after sending Kushina and Mikoto home. He didn’t wait for the older teen to take off that blank white mask, already determined to channel all of his Uchiha stubbornness to make sure that he would not forever be trapped in Kamui.

If they have to stay together, he wanted to have his share of decision-making too.

“Okay.”

"I don't care if you disagree—wait what?"

Sakuto smiled. "Okay," he repeated.

Obito jerked backwards, honestly wasn't expecting that it would be that easy. He frowned as Sakuto shed the mask and the cloak, wondering if this was a trick to placate him, but Sakuto's eyes were oddly soft and longing when those mismatched orbs met his gaze.

It struck something inside Obito, making him to consider his next words.

“We’re travelling on foot together,” he tried another demand, deciding to push his luck. “I don’t want to be stuck in here. And I need to practice walking.”

“Okay,” Sakuto agreed easily. “But we’d make camp in Kamui,” he added seconds after that, voice gentle and placating. “It’s safer to make camp and rest in here.”

Obito didn’t exactly have a retort for that compromise. It’s a reasonable idea after all. They would be less vulnerable to ambush if they made camp in a pocket dimension that only Sakuto has access to.

Not that was going to stop Obito from keep arguing.

“We’re travelling on foot together,” he repeated with a firmer voice. "I refuse to be carried around."

“Of course,” Sakuto agreed, eyes narrowing at the way Obito was half-leaning against a cube. “But you’re going to tell me if anything hurts. The jutsu I used to reattach your limbs are experimental kinjutsu, and you’re not supposed to push yourself until the cartilage tissue of your joints reconstruct itself.”

That had caught Obito off guard, causing him to flinch and stare down at his own shoulder.

“Is that the reasons my joints hurt?” he breathed out, sounding weaker than he would like.

Sakuto was silent for a moment before he reluctantly nodded.

Obito frowned. “That sucks.”

“Maa… consider it as a new learning experience?” Sakuto’s mismatched eyes squinted with teasing humour at Obito’s response, a perfect match to the playful curve of his smile. “You get to experience how old people feel. Experience the old age before your time.”

Obito scowled. “You’re the one with white hair, idiot.”

“Silver,” Sakuto argued, lips curling to a pout that Obito totally did not consider cute at all. “My hair is silver, not white!”

Obito couldn’t resist an amused smile.

“Same thing,” he shrugged.

“Nooo,” Sakuto retorted petulantly, sounding like a whining child. “It’s not the same thing.”

Despite his own wariness, Obito couldn’t stop his smile from growing wider.

This felt comfortingly familiar, somehow.

“On a serious note though, I can force the tissue to replicate faster with chakra,” Sakuto suddenly shifted, dropping his playful whiny tone in favour of a more serious voice, elaborating further when Obito blinked blankly at him. “It’s possible, but your bones will still take time to heal before you could attempt more vigorous movements.”

Obito pursed his lips at that. His right shoulder and leg still throbbed in dull pain, and he could feel his joints hurting every time he tried to move faster—it honestly felt like his bones were bumping against each other—so he couldn’t exactly argue against Sakuto with that.

“How long will it take?” he asked. 

“Probably a week or two if we pushed the healing,” Sakuto answered with a shrug, hesitating for a moment before he reached out to grab Obito’s elbow and eased Obito to a sitting position when the Uchiha didn’t protest. “Faster if you didn’t push yourself,” he murmured pointedly, eyeing the trembles of Obito’s right leg.

Obito scowled at the hidden jab.

“Does that mean walking is out of the choices now?” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, totally unaware that he was pouting.

Sakuto took an oddly long time to answer, and when he did, he was still blinking dazedly at Obito.

“Do you mind using crutches until you heal?” the silver-haired eventually said, clearing his throat a few times before he added. “I’m planning to take the route away from the battlefield—closer to civilian’s path—so it is probably safe enough for you to travel on your own with a crutch.”

That actually took Obito off guard. He knew that Sakuto could teleport using Kamui, so the fact that the older teen was willing to compromise with Obito’s demand was oddly nice.

Maybe travelling with this (probably insane) guy wasn’t so bad after all.

“Where are we heading?” though, Obito decided to not bring it up. Instead, he asked more questions, determined to gain more information about their travel. “What is our goals anyway? You seem like you have a set path.”

“Around,” Sakuto responded absent-mindedly, like he himself wasn’t sure about it. “I need to warn the jinchuuriki and their bijuu, just in case if someone is still hunting them,” the unsure frown on his face deepened, and Obito noted the way Sakuto’s jaw clenched in a tight vice, as if there was something horrible about that idea that worried the older teen’s mind. “So, we need to travel all over the world to find them.”

It took an effort to not yell at the sheer absurdity of that plan.

“We’re in the middle of a _war_ ,” Obito pointed out, voice strained as he attempted to keep a calm tone. “You can’t just ‘ _travel all over the world_ ’ like it is some vacation, dumb-dumb.”

Even _civilian_ would know that to travel all over the world _now_ would be a bad idea considering that the shinobi world was at the peak of world war.

“I’m a perfectly neutral party in this pointlessly stupid war,” Sakuto countered, tipping his head towards his mask and cloak. “I’m neither a friend nor a foe, and none of the warring nations seemed to have any idea how to deal with me, so that’s a plus.”

Obito thought of Kushina’s mischievous hushed whispers to him—the giggly whispers telling him about Sakuto’s success in baffling and trolling all of the Kage of the warring nations, driving all five powerful nations of the shinobi world crazy from the sheer frustration due to his unpredictable interferences in the war.

He had this slight hunch that Sakuto fully intended to continue trolling the warring world during their travel.

Then, it dawned to him that Sakuto intended to travel the world in the disguise of his alter ego, and there was a high probability that he would create an alter ego for Obito too, considering that they're technically travel-partners now.

Well, Obito wanted to have his say in that too.

“If you’re thinking of getting a mask for me too, I want it to be bright orange,” he suggested, shooting a distasteful glare in the direction of Sakuto’s blank white mask. “Yours is bleak and boring.”

Obito wasn’t expecting to see the shocked surprise on Sakuto’s face, nor was he expecting that his words would cause the older teen to tear up. He blinked, clueless and confused when Sakuto turned away from him, the silver-haired's hands coming up to dab his eyes with his sleeves. When Sakuto turned to face him again, the traces of tears were gone, but there was a kind of heavy sadness in those mismatched eyes—something that shone so truthfully through those expressive eyes that it caused Obito’s own heart to twist and flip, silently wondering if he has triggered some sad memories in the older teen.

Despite the very obvious confusion on Obito’s face, Sakuto only choked an embarrassed laughter, shying his mismatched eyes away from meeting the Uchiha’s concerned gaze.

"Sorry," he croaked, still refusing to meet Obito's gaze. "There is dust in my eyes."

Obito wondered if it was a good idea to confront and question Sakuto whether the older teen has been stalking him.

The idea of coincidence existed in real-life, and Obito knew that this might be one of those creepy coincidences, but he still couldn’t shrug the stalking idea off. Sakuto seemed to know a lot about him—from his name down to Obito’s own personal quirks—and even though he never brought it up, Obito was perfectly aware that Sakuto seemed to recognise his personal discomfort quirks and acted accordingly to accommodate it.

So far, only Rin was able to do that—to recognise the little tattle-tale quirks that Obito subconsciously did—and she would act accordingly to accommodate him.

But Rin was _his_ since the age of five. She was his and he was hers and it has been almost a decade since then, thus it wasn’t strange for her to be able to read him like an open book.

However, it was super strange for a total stranger to do the same.

As much as it would be comforting to the peace of his mind if he dismissed everything as a coincidence, the fact that Sakuto used the excuse that might as well be Obito's trademark excuse with eerie similarity—with a perfectly similar tone, body language and all of that…

Yeah, Obito wouldn’t put stalking out of consideration yet.

Sakuto knew way too much about Obito for a total stranger.

But the weirdly confusing thing was, Obito sensed no danger at all around Sakuto.

Hell, with that one exception of the sudden unhinged laughter yesterday, Obito was fairly comfortable being around the silver-haired teen.

The older teen respected the boundaries between them, hesitating and taking accounts of Obito’s own body language before he made a move to touch Obito—something that was sadly rare for Obito, growing up around the possessive grabby hands of the alphas in his clan—and even if the older teen has to be invasive during the healing sessions, every touch was methodical and professional.

There was a boundary between them, and Sakuto fully respected it.

If Sakuto was a stalker, he was a weird one.

It was a temptation to ask, and the nerve-wracking suspicion almost drove Obito crazy, but he was in no shape to fight right now should Sakuto snapped and turned violent upon that confrontation. Hence, Obito kept his mouth shut and his guard up as he watched in wary silence when Sakuto took out a sealing scroll.

The silver-haired teen gave him a soft melancholic smile as he unsealed the scroll, revealing a neatly wrapped bundle.

Still silent and averting his eyes away from Obito's gaze, Sakuto carefully unwrapped the bundle, setting the dark clothes aside one by one until he reached a smaller package at the very bottom of the set. He offered the small package to Obito with that same melancholic smile, mismatched eyes lowered entirely to avoid meeting Obito's own.

“The clothes are too big for you,” the silver-haired murmured, nodding towards the stack of folded clothes. “So, you’re better off wearing the ones Mikoto-san brought for you,” he tipped his head and quirked a teasing smile. “At least until you hit your growth spurt.”

The jibe was weak, and the humour didn’t even reach Sakuto’s eyes.

Obito frowned but decided to not mention it as he shifted his attention towards the package on his lap. He unwrapped it slowly, feeling the curiousity and anticipation built up at the first peek of vibrant orange against the dark fabric.

When he finally has the swirled vibrant orange mask in his hands, understanding dawned into him.

The bigger clothes that didn’t seem that it would fit Sakuto. The careful care of this package.

This one-eyed mask.

It was then that Obito realised that Kamui didn’t belong to a single person.

“We have to carve another eyehole,” Sakuto murmured, frowning when his gaze landed on the mask. He reached out, obviously wanted to retrieve the mask from Obito. “Let me—"

“Nah,” Obito grinned, keeping the mask out of Sakuto’s reach. “You’ll ruin the design.”

Sakuto frowned.

“Obito, you have two functional eyes,” he deadpanned flatly. "This mask only have one eyehole."

“Consider it training then,” Obito shrugged, tracing the swirl of the mask with his finger, feeling the careful care that has been poured on the carved wood. “Sharingan deteriorates with use. If I learn to fight using one eye, I can switch between my sharingan and extend their lifespan.”

Sakuto didn’t look convinced at all by that reasoning.

“I think we have another set of masks around,” the silver-haired grumbled, fumbling around a bunch of other sealing scrolls. “I swear he kept stock of masks in here…,” he muttered under his breath, examining one scroll after another.

Welp. That confirmed everything.

“Sakuto.”

Sakuto stopped swearing at the similar-looking scrolls and directed those vibrant mismatched eyes at Obito.

Obito smiled and tapped the orange one-eyed mask.

“I would like to use this one, if you don’t mind.”

* * *

Sasuke is pure sadistic evil, while Naruto and Sakura are both easily influenced children.

The End. No argument would be accepted.

_“Call me whatever you want, we’re not budging, Kakashi. You run, we narrate.”_

See? Pure evil.

 _“If it makes it better, it isn’t exactly that much different than Icha Icha,”_ imaginary Naruto comforted, though Kakashi could still sense the edge of guilty humour in his voice.

_ICHA ICHA IS NOT STARRED BY MY DAD AND OROCHIMARU, YOU SADISTIC CHILDREN._

_“Yelling isn’t going to change our mind, sensei. You run, we narrate.”_

God damn it, Sakura. Have some mercy, will you?

Kakashi buried his face to his palms and whimpered, thankful that Obito was too distracted by the beautiful seaside landscape of Uzushio to heed him any attention. He has brought Obito out of Kamui to camp in Uzushio, considering that they would only start travelling once Setsuna was awake. Taking that into account, Kakashi thought that a little fresh air would be good for the sake of everyone’s mind.

After all, he was kinda in a desperate need for that stability of mind right now.

When Obito insisted to use that one-eyed orange mask as his new alter ego during their upcoming travel, Kakashi felt like he was hit across the face with a battle axe.

It ached.

It really ached deep inside. His heart felt like it was doing somersault practice when Obito tested that mask out. The ache worsened when Obito toyed with multiple personalities to go with his new alter ego—the Uchiha seemed to have a kick out creating his new persona, utilising the legendary Uchiha dramatics during the process.

Every personality that Obito tested out felt familiar.

The serious personality who spoke with cold voice and ancient arrogance was a reminisce of the ‘Madara’ that Naruto has unmasked mid-war.

The aloof personality who spoke with mocking edge was a reminisce of the intruder who Kakashi briefly witnessed fighting Minato the day Kyuubi attacked Konoha.

Then, Obito shifted to a playful personality who spoke in the third person voice and carried an annoyingly childish tinge in his speech.

Kakashi’s heart made a figurative backflip.

He would’ve noped out of there when Obito explored that character. His heart couldn’t bear to watch as Obito added more and more quirks to his alter ego—a character that was so painfully familiar to Kakashi—and when the Uchiha wore the orange mask and turned to face Kakashi with a cheerfully annoying;

“Sakuto-san, Tobi wants to say that Tobi is very thankful for your care!”

Needless to say, Kakashi’s heart almost stopped right there.

He would’ve noped out of Kamui right that instance, heart thundering upon such achingly familiar character because all that he could feel when this Obito pulled that Tobi persona was the pain of betrayal and anguish that he felt when Tobi’s real identity was revealed during the Fourth War.

Tobi was a character of nightmares.

The leader of Akatsuki. The one who was responsible for organising the countless deaths that happened by Akatsuki's hands. The monster who slaughtered a good number of the Allied Force troops.

The man who started the Fourth Ninja War.

 _That_ was Tobi.

Tobi was a villain.

 _“Tobi isn’t a villain yet,”_ Naruto’s soft murmur was the one that stopped Kakashi from ripping that mask off from Obito’s face. _“He still has the chance to shine as a hero.”_

Kakashi tasted sand in his mouth, unable to argue.

 _“It’s a different future, sensei,”_ Sakura chimed in, a harbinger of calm comfort to Kakashi’s chaotic impulses. “ _Tobi doesn’t have to be a villain this time.”_

_But—_

Before Kakashi could even protest or nope his way out of Kamui to avoid this sudden whiplash of emotions, Sasuke cut him off with an annoyed groan.

 _“Give him a chance,”_ the Uchiha grumbled, and Kakashi almost had vivid imagery of Sasuke glaring death at him. _“And don’t think of running away. You can’t run away every time your emotions got you, damn it.”_

Considering that Sasuke was just a delusion that couldn’t bodily harm him, Kakashi ignored his student’s words and activated his sharingan to nope out of there anyway.

He choked on thin air when his head was suddenly bombarded with a completely inappropriate image of naked Orochimaru soaking in hot springs.

God damn it.

He needed a brain bleach, hiraishin.

_Sasuke, what the fuck—_

_“Try to run away, and we’ll narrate this wonderfully explicit piece of romance between the White Fang and the Snake Sannin.”_

It was by the grace of his ANBU training that Kakashi was able to keep a poker face and prevented himself from appearing like a gaping idiot as he tried to digest his student’s threat.

_Sasuke, what the fuck?_

_“Not my fault that Naruto is a wonderful writer and Jiraiya made him write a crack piece whenever the writer block strikes.”_

Kakashi didn't even know if he should risk going against Sasuke's threat considering that he already knew that Naruto was practically the ghostwriter for a good half of the Icha Icha series. He was also aware that Jiraiya has been using Naruto's writing skills to heal his writer block by prompting the blonde to write crack pieces with the weirdest pairing the Toad Sannin could come up with.

Kakashi has read a few of those writer-block ‘cures'.

That five-pages fluff between Madara and the Nidaime was particularly traumatising regardless of how heart-melting and swoon-worthy the scenes were.

_“In my defence, Ero-Sennin refused to get out of his room if I didn’t help him out of his writer block. I need him to train, ttebayo.”_

_Not helping, Naruto._

Yeah. Kakashi didn’t understand how a writer’s mind works or how the hell such weird pairings helped Jiraiya-sama out of the writer block, but he knew that if Naruto didn’t make it Hokage, his blonde student would have a promising future in the literary world.

Naruto was _that_ good.

Therefore, after a rather ominous chant of _“You run, we narrate”_ from his supposedly imaginary students, Kakashi has swallowed down his needs to avoid Obito and the feelings his friend has invoked from within him. Instead, he steeled his nerves, gathered Obito into his arms and took the injured Uchiha out of Kamui to his camp in Uzushio.

Setsuna was still unconscious and needed a guard anyway—regardless of how deserted Uzushio was—and Kakashi’s seal-enhanced clone could only take a few extra hits before poofing out of existence.

Thus, in the end, Kakashi ended up here, sulking on a rock as he watched over Obito while the Uchiha hobbled along the beach of Uzushio. He was pointedly ignoring the mental chatters of his students, still sulking that they did not allow him to run away from his emotions like he usually did.

These kids were supposed to be his own imagination, yet they acted like they have their own free will.

 _“It’s for your own good, sensei,”_ Sakura crooned soothingly.

_No, Sakura. It is not for my own good. It’s for YOUR sadistic pleasure._

_“Your own good AND our sadistic pleasure,”_ Sasuke corrected, not even hiding his glee. _"Two enemies with one kunai. Win-win."_

Kakashi groaned.

Uchiha Sasuke is pure EVIL.

 _“Running away from your own emotions is unhealthy,”_ Naruto comforted, at least having the grace to sound guilty. _"We have to do this for you, sensei."_

Kakashi pouted, sending a mental middle finger to his imaginary students.

Naruto let out a tiny guilt-ridden squeak.

Kakashi had this vivid hunch that Sakura was rolling her eyes at him.

Sasuke deadpanned dryly;

_“Very mature, Kakashi.”_

Kakashi huffed, determined to ignore Sasuke the EVIL incarnate as he returned his attention back towards Obito. Luck was on his side apparently, as he found it was easier to ignore Sasuke’s taunts when he has that cheerful grin and enthusiastic wave of his friend to focus on.

“Sakuto-san, come here please!”

In a heartbeat, all of his sulkiness disappeared as he immediately sunshin to be by Obito’s side.

He then blinked and gaped in confusion when Obito reached up and held two different vibrantly coloured rocks next to each of his eyes. The injured Uchiha beamed, onyx eyes shone brightly under the soft sunlight of Uzushio's late afternoon.

“Obito?”

Obito grinned, holding the rocks closer to Kakashi’s eyes. “They matched your eyes.”

Kakashi stared blankly at his friend’s grin, taking a bit too much time to digest everything before his brain kickstarted from its stunned state and he instantly found his heart fluttered and his ears started to feel a bit too warm for comfort.

The rocks indeed shone bright green and vibrant blue like his mismatched eyes.

He felt his blood rushed to his face, making everything felt uncomfortably warm like his ears and Kakashi immediately looked away, averting his gaze from meeting Obito’s teasing grin.

Of course, Sasuke the EVIL incarnate wasn’t going to let him get away with this one.

 _“Oh, look,”_ his Uchiha student leered with a mocking voice that surely was rooted from utter evil, each syllable dripped with sadistic amusement. _“Butterflies, butterflies everywhere. It’s such a lovely spring in Hatake Kakashi’s mind. Look. These blossoms of love would cure all evil in the world.”_

 _Except you,_ Kakashi sassed, making sure that he sounded as venomous as he possibly could.

 _“How sad,”_ Sasuke drawled dryly, not even affected.

Kakashi resisted a suffering groan.

Since he was focusing his attention to mentally swear at his terrible AND evil student, Kakashi didn’t notice that Obito has hobbled a few steps away to pick up another stone.

Thus, by the time he heard his friend’s giggles and felt another sunlight-warm stone pressed on his cheek, everything was too late.

“And this one matched your blush,” Obito said nonchalantly, maintaining an innocent tone despite the amused teasing quirk of his smirk. “ _Cute_ pink.”

Kakashi spluttered and flailed helplessly as Obito hobbled back to their camp.

Sasuke howled in unhinged evil laughter.

Kakashi knew that he was never going to hear the end of this.

* * *

Obito didn’t know why he did it, but he totally didn’t regret it.

Sakuto was a disaster.

An easily flustered human disaster, to be exact.

And Obito enjoyed messing with that adorable human disaster.

Teasing Sakuto was a wonderful distraction from the utter silence in his mind. It wasn’t a nice thing to do, but flustering the older teen worked wonders in dulling his own anxiety over the complete lack of response in his telepathic link.

He has called out for his pack ever since Sakuto took him out of Kamui. He started out by pleading first, begging them to respond to his calls, before his desperate calls escalated to mental yelling.

Neither Kakashi nor Rin has responded.

Silence. Utter silence.

There were no signs that they even heard him. He didn't know if they're even alive, knowing that if both of them have defected, they were vulnerable to be the victims to more dangerous missing-nin or bounty hunters. It sparked panic and anxiety in Obito, earning him a very concerned puppy tailing him everywhere as he drowned in his own worries.

He was too distracted with his worries that it took him an embarrassingly long time to notice that Fuwa has somehow summoned a line of concerned puppies to trail after his hobbling steps. He must have made quite a picture, frowning to himself while a herd of cute puppies trailed after his steps in their adorable attempts to make sure that he was okay. Obito has quirked a thankful smile to the pack of puppies, bending down to pet each of them to assure them to not worry about him until they felt that he was okay enough to be left alone with Fuwa.

But the worries and anxiety were too strong for him to fight, and he again found himself completely distracted from paying attention to his surroundings as he attempted communication with his pack.

There was no response. The silence persisted.

He has even resorted to insults to invoke some defensive response from Kakashi or exasperated reprimand from Rin, but that also was a futile effort.

The silence remained unbroken.

 _Obito_ almost broke.

He refused to think of the reason behind the silence—refusing to even consider that perhaps his pack was _gone_ —thus he busied himself with distractions. He made it a mission to seek for rocks with the shades of his packmates’ eyes along the beach of Uzushio, and once he found the rocks that resembled Rin’s warm brown eyes and Kakashi’s pitch dark ones, he has added Sakuto’s eyes into the mission too.

Teasing the alpha wasn’t in his plan, but a blushing Sakuto was a blissful distraction, thus he spent the rest of the day attempting to maintain that blush on the elder teen’s face.

It worked so well as a distraction that it was almost therapeutic.

It was hard to believe that the older teen was an alpha because this behaviour was something that all alphas Obito has come across would vehemently avoid.

They wouldn't allow themselves to be this vulnerable to playful teasing, preferring to be the one who did the teasing. They wouldn’t be caught off guard like this. They wouldn’t allow themselves to be teased till vibrant red coloured their cheeks. They wouldn’t allow themselves to be rendered speechless and flustered by anyone, let alone by an _omega_.

But Sakuto let himself fell victim to Obito's teasing. He flailed. He got flustered.

Yet, he didn’t growl at Obito or force Obito to stop.

Sakuto just blushed and accepted everything, occasionally hiding a smile behind his messy bangs. It was weird but was an extremely nice thing to do since Obito depended on the teasing to distract himself from his worries and dark thoughts.

In the end, the distraction worked well until Sakuto has to leave them to hunt for dinner.

Alone now and without anyone to tease or talk to, Obito was dead-set on not thinking of his pack. Not now when he only has Sakuto's dogs as companions and he wasn't sure if they could snap him out of his anxiety if he dared to think about Kakashi and Rin.

Thus, he absent-mindedly rolled the pink rock along his knuckles, resting his back against the massive dog that Sakuto has called out of one of the ruins. The salty air of Uzushio was refreshing after the time he spent in Kamui, and Obito took the liberty of the freedom to bask in the cool air that blew through the crack of this ruins, using his free hand to stroke the massive head of the ninken that was tasked to guard him and Setsuna.

There was a hidden ninken city underneath this abandoned land and Sakuto has called out some of the combat ninken to help him guarding his charges while he went out to hunt their dinner. Obito knew that Sakuto has left some of his enhanced clones around too, but he was too worn out to seek for them. He didn’t know if this ninken could talk or not, and he wasn’t well-versed enough with ninken protocol to know if asking the dog if it could talk was considered rude in their culture or not.

Hence, he kept his silence and focused on stroking the black fur of his guard’s massive head.

This dog was so huge it could swallow half of Obito's body in one bite, so he wasn’t particularly keen on offending it.

Which brought up another odd thing about Sakuto.

If Sakuto was in a good enough relationship with the ninken community to have this fierce combat ninken to rise from the depths of underground to guard his patients, it didn’t make sense at all when the older teen kept Fuwa as a companion.

Obito’s dark gaze shifted from the vibrantly colourful rocks on his lap towards the curled-up form of the small puppy that was sleeping beside the unconscious Setsuna.

Don’t get him wrong, Obito _really_ liked Fuwa (the pup was so cute, fluffy and sweet, who wouldn’t love him?) but it didn’t take an Inuzuka to know that Fuwa was not a combat ninken. The pup seemed to specialise in iryo-ninjutsu instead, something that Obito knew Sakuto didn’t really need considering how powerful of a medic the elder teen was.

Yet, Sakuto didn’t seem like he found Fuwa useless at all. Instead, multiple times Obito caught the silver-haired teen clung to the little pup, acting as if he was dependant on the puppy.

It was intriguingly odd.

Though, there was no use on thinking of it when Obito already knew that he wouldn’t get his answers. He slumped even more comfortably against the warm muscled torso of his guard, trying to not think of the worrying silence in his head as he sunk into the lush black fur. It didn’t take long for his eyes to droop with exhaustion, the flickering campfire now was a dancing blur in his eyes.

Obito didn’t remember when he has nodded off to sleep, but he remembered what has jolted him awake.

**_“PERISH.”_ **

That one single word jerked him awake with a lurch, his body automatically tensing up despite the pain that seared from his injuries as he trashed against the gentle arms that were holding him. Something small was tugging on the edge of his shirt, while another thing—bigger and heavier—was nuzzling his back, and the person that was embracing him was talking to him, asking him to calm down.

Obito tried to follow that voice but his mind was still half-stuck in his dream, still hearing the deep wrathful voice that echoed with the coldest of murderous anger.

Obito could hear his own harsh breath. He could feel the trembles of his own body.

Yet, that wrathful deep voice was the only thing that he could focus on.

**_“PERISH.”_ **

Obito trembled in pure fear. He was so terrified that he barely heard the voice that was attempting to soothe him.

“Obito?" that voice called, gentle and soothing. "Can you follow my voice, please?”

Obito swallowed, moving his head in the direction of that fuzzy voice.

He met mismatched gaze of vibrant blue and green, and only then did Obito felt that he was fully awake. He gasped, taking in a lungful of air so quick it hurt his chest.

“Sakuto,” he croaked despite his hurting chest, dropping all honorifics and politeness altogether as he clung onto the older teen. “Rin,” he gasped, flinching at the murderous intent that clouded his mind. “Rin,” he repeated, desperate.

Sakuto’s hands tightened their grip on Obito’s arms, and when he spoke, the same desperation and worry that were in Obito’s voice was in his too. “What’s wrong with Rin, Obito?”

Obito met Sakuto's mismatched gaze with horrified widened eyes that matched the shaken whisper that slipped past his lips;

“She’s going to obliterate Ame.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the sweet sounds of my reader's surprise and anguish. Lol. 
> 
> Raise up your hands if you were internally screaming/or chanting 'NO' throughout Kaguya's POV. And I don't know why the fuck I write Sasuke like that, but I didn't regret it. In my head, Sasuke is the asshole eldest bro among Team 7, Sakura is the exasperated-I-am-so-done middle child while Naruto is the emphatic and oddly mature youngest child. Kakashi is the poor Dad who is mercilessly bullied by his own kids. Haha. Hope you find some solace in their insane shenanigans after that Kaguya POV.
> 
> Also, the thing about tissue cartilage at the joints reconstructing itself was a false fact I create for this universe. In real life, the tissue cartilage wouldn't regenerate. Instead, it will continue to exhaust itself until it was no longer there to cushion the bones at the joints, and eventually caused arthritis. 
> 
> That aside, I want to thank all of you for your support up to this point. I rarely respond to comments, but I want you to know that your comments were the one that keep me writing this story. Else, I would've abandoned it back at the second chapter because of the hate I received to the A/B/O thing. I wouldn't dare to go on without your encouraging comments.
> 
> So, from the bottom of my heart, and in the spirit of this new year, I thank all of you. Thank you so much for your support. I'll keep on doing my best to ensure that this story reaches the end. (Things just started to heat up anyway, lol)
> 
> See you in two week times~!
> 
> **P/S:**
> 
> Btw, hiraishin used by Kakashi in one of the POV is an expression I created for this universe. It replaces 'pronto'. So, the line _"He needed a brain bleach, hiraishin."_ is actually _"He needed a brain bleach, pronto."_
> 
> Just in case if you did not get it. My muse didn't, and he so blatantly pointed out that I might need to make a list of all the modified idiomatic expressions that I used in my Naruto fanfic.
> 
> Also;
> 
> _Obito, you little minx._


	13. Such an irony of life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed. And the characters insisted to write themselves. If you ask me, I have no idea if they would even want to follow the set path of my original plot.
> 
> These characters are alive. I'm their slave to write their story so help me pleas—
> 
>   
> _Just read and enjoy, okay? ;-)_  
> 

Rin's arrival at Akatsuki's base didn't go as she imagined.

When she made the decision to defect, she had predictions of Akatsuki's reaction to her.

Ame was nowhere as big and powerful as the five major hidden villages, yet they were one of the few smaller shinobi villages that actively participated in wars. They suffered in their own civil war. Their location was at the route between the major hidden villages. The Sannin encountered the founders of Akatsuki while they were on their way returning home from a _warzone_.

There was no doubt that the members of Akatsuki were mostly orphaned by the major villages—Konoha included.

And Rin was so obviously born and bred in Konoha. Her air-light footwork would give her origin away.

Konoha's shinobi walked with air-light steps due to their infamous habit stalking among the trees, embracing stealth like it was born in their blood. On the other hand, Kiri's shinobi walked with either heavy firm steps or lightning-speed quick steps because of the nation's collective desire to wield the seven famous swords. Uzushio has been gone for over a decade, and Kushina herself seemed to have adapted to Konoha's stealth instead, so Rin has no reference of the lost nation's walking style.

Rin wasn't trained enough to fake a normal civilian's walking style, despite knowing that it was the most basic thing in infiltrating 101.

Not that she wanted to hide her origin anyways.

She wanted the foundation of their alliance to be created with the foundation of trust.

Rin predicted that her arrival to the Akatsuki would be faced with wary reaction from the group. To counter that, she has mentally planned her speech—a well-thought speech to placate the three founders of Akatsuki to allow her to become one of them—and when that didn't nail her confidence of receiving positive welcome into the peace-advocating organisation, Rin started strategizing. She predicted multiple scenarios that would've happened when she arrived at Akatsuki's doors and planned a counter-reaction for each of them.

She predicted that there will be a defensive reaction. She predicted that she will be taken in for an interrogation. She predicted having to spend an unknown period of time attempting to prove her loyalty and usefulness to the Akatsuki.

Neither of that happened.

After the unexpected encounter with that strange boy, she has pushed herself beyond her limits, fully dependent on the waves of chakra emitting from the seal on her abdomen to sustain her exhausted body. She took an elaborated route that strayed far from the actual path to the little hideout where she knew Akatsuki was based at, making it seemed that she was headed towards the city of Amegakure itself. She didn't stop running and would only take a quick rest when it was necessary.

It was originally an effort to throw the boy off her tracks, just in case if he changed his mind and decided to pursue her anyway.

She wasn't expecting to stumble straight into a one-sided dirty negotiation merely a few miles from Amegakure.

She wasn't expecting to see one of the famed commanders from her former village to be involved.

She wasn't expecting to witness another family being torn apart by this war.

Rin stopped to a halt the moment Hanzou demanded the founders of Akatsuki to turn their kunai against each other. She has completely concealed her chakra then, hiding behind a rock and was immensely grateful that Isobu has immediately reacted, helping Rin to blend herself into the environment with his own ability. Rin crouched behind the rocks, ears perked up to eavesdrop in the one-sided negotiation. She was barely able to stop her chakra from spiking in anger when Hanzou again demanded Yahiko and Nagato to turn against each other to spare Konan's life.

A quick peek around the rock confirmed that Danzou was siding with Hanzou in this negotiation.

Rin wasn't surprised at all.

After all, the shinobi that was holding Konan's throat at blade's point wore a blank white mask that was a resemblance to Konoha's ANBU.

If there was any doubt of her own decision to leave Konoha, that doubt was gone now.

There was a sound of a scuffle that Rin's chakra-enhanced hearing barely picked up, prompting her to risk another peek around the rock to see what was going on.

She froze then, stunned in utter horror.

They haven't noticed her yet—too distracted with the unfolding scene in front of them—but she was close enough for her chakra-enhanced sight to see _everything._

She was close enough to sense the slow drag of Yahiko's chakra faded as the orange-haired teen collapsed to the blood loss.

Yahiko collapsed and Rin remembered Obito's last moments—the slow drag of his chakra fading right in front of her, the moment that would forever haunt her mind as she _felt_ Obito's life stuttered and failing in a futile struggle to survive.

She was close enough to see the horrified surprise in Nagato's face, the widened rinnegan that reflected the all too familiar fear.

Nagato froze in horror and she remembered—Rin remembered the moment Kakashi _broke,_ remembered the exact same expression that Nagato was making now on Kakashi's masked face back then when they realised that they just lost a brother.

She was close enough to see Konan's tears-stricken face, close enough to see the guilt and sorrow that have started growing in the older girl—the same emotions that she festered after Obito's death because he wouldn't have died if she wasn't captured, just like Yahiko wouldn't have chosen this path if Konan wasn't held hostage by Hanzou and Danzou.

Rin saw her pack in the founders of Akatsuki.

She saw how their future would be if Yahiko stopped breathing.

They would end up just like her pack. Nagato would lose himself. Konan would be the last remaining member of the pack who struggled to hold Nagato's broken pieces together and she would fail—she would fail just like Rin failed Kakashi.

The Akatsuki wouldn't be the same, just like Team Minato was no longer the same.

They wouldn't be the same.

Rin refused to allow history to repeat itself.

She refused to allow another family being torn apart by their elders' hands. Never again.

The heat bubbled in her chest, spiking her chakra in an uncontrollable rage. Risking another quick peek around the rock has revealed that Danzou and Hanzou were exchanging a glance.

Rin instantly knew that she was caught.

Danzou shifted, and the very next second, three of the ROOT agents vanished from the battlefield.

Rin waited for them with a sweet saccharine smile on her face.

She's just an average chuunin who was no match to these agents, but Rin stood fearless as the masked agents cornered her. The heat of anger that was fuelling her exhausted body was no longer of her own heart. It has expanded, the rage festered from centuries of anger and hatred living amongst mankind, of the decades of pain and loss of separated pack—all of which were due to human's hands. She could no longer distinguish which was which at this point because even though she knew that she was never scorned by mankind, that her alpha was Kakashi and not Kyuubi no Kitsune, and her pack only consisted of three members rather than nine, the rage still felt like hers.

It was her siblings that were taken from her. Hers. Hers. _Hers._

_HERS._

So Rin allowed herself to fall.

She fell into the darkness, straight into the hot seething embrace that simmered inside her. She allowed herself to fall into the restless hateful power trapped within her, opening herself up to the bijuu as flashes of memories that wasn't her own wrapped around her.

Rin saw a looming inferno of fiery chakra—wrapped and trapped in cursed tendrils of darkness—as mindless spinning tomoe seized control over Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Rin saw golden dust shimmered underneath harsh sunlight—and the cold cold gaze of the tiny human that was staring at her—before she was dragged down, trapped in a container too small for her.

Rin saw Nidaime-sama bled and fought in a stubborn attempt to defend her and she has lunged forward, pushing him away from death into his cousin's arms as she allowed herself to be captured by the Kumo-nin.

Rin saw the face of Shodai-sama, no longer as gentle as the ones portrayed in the Hokage's Tower but instead displayed a fierce determination as his mokuton charged at her, trapping her just like the rest of her siblings—

_Oh._

She wasn't the only one who has lost her siblings.

**_"Enough is enough."_ **

Rin whole-heartedly agreed.

So Nohara Rin embraced the rage in her heart, fed the wrathful fire with her own grief and the hatred of her bijuu, no longer caring that her body felt like it was on fire and her sight was pure red as she opened her eyes.

There was nothing in her head but the primitive needs to protect and destroy.

She wouldn't allow another pack to suffer as she and Isobu have.

Isobu was right after all.

Enough is enough.

* * *

Nagato thought that he has lost everything.

Yahiko's body was heavy and boneless in his arms. The blood was warm and sticky, staining Nagato's dark robe to a darker shade of black as Yahiko's chakra faded in a slow torturous drag. His voice was fading too, merely soft echoes of apologies, assurance and love that drowned Konan's sobs and pounded Nagato's mind to a complete state of frozen shock.

His brother was dying. His sister was held at a tanto's point.

And here he was—frozen and numb—an utter failure of a leader.

Nagato really thought that he has lost everything.

Until the world exploded, and hope came crashing down the battlefield in the form of destruction.

At first, it was all hot fizzling steam of bloody chaos.

The rain vanished mid-air as it turned to hot steam, while the mud by their feet started bubbling up like boiling lava. It was by the grace of rinnegan that Nagato was able to make out the outline of their interruption—the outline of hope cloaked in destruction—through the heavy reddish steam. He had thought that it was a summon by Hanzou's Konoha ally at first—because the shape was not of a human and resembled a summon animal—but there was chaos on the other side of the battlefield too, so Nagato wanted to believe that this interruption would not favour Hanzou's side.

Still holding on to Yahiko's body, Nagato blinked to clear the tears away from his eyes, hoping with all of his heart that the Ghost has caught a wind of this one-sided negotiation and has come to help, only to froze in yet another round of shock when the steam subsided to reveal the glowing shape of young girl.

A young girl—probably a good half a decade younger than Nagato himself—stood right in the middle of the two opposing sides with her body crouched like a feral animal, wild and angry. In one hand, she held three decapitated heads of Danzou's ROOT agents while her other hand was dripping with blood that she so casually licked all the way to the tip of her fingers. She was cloaked with bubbly red chakra that took the form of a three-tailed animal, and when she lifted her face up to snarl at Hanzou's troop, it was the face of a feral angry beast. Her fangs—four fangs protruding past her lips—were massively large to be a human's, her eyes were inhumanly deep pink and the voice that ripped out of her throat were that of an ancient beast.

**_"PERISH."_ **

There was no mercy in that voice.

She lashed out, taking advantage of the fear she invoked from everyone on the battlefield. A hot blast of boiling water streamed straight towards Hanzou's troops as two of her chakra tails snapped to action. The troops scattered as the water reached them, but the ROOT agent that was holding Konan was a second too late.

Nagato saw the man screamed as his body was being boiled alive.

Konan's scream was deafening in his mind.

As the steam dissipated, his fear of losing Konan dissipated too. His rinnegan picked up the outline of the feral girl even before the steam completely vanished. The girl held Konan's trembling form in one of the snapping tails, keeping the blue-haired girl safe and hidden behind her looming chakra-cloaked form. Her second tail reached out towards Yahiko and Nagato—a long extension of bubbly red chakra—before it wrapped around Yahiko's bleeding chest with a touch that was almost too gentle for such a beastly creature.

Nagato stared, awed and stunned as Yahiko slowly stopped bleeding, his heartbeats grew stronger while his chakra flickered back to life, seemingly like he was feeding off the bubbly chakra to survive. Konan's voice was a delirious disbelieving chant of _"I'm alive"_ in Nagato's head, sounding more like she has no idea how the hell she survived that attack but didn't sound like she was hurt at all.

Nagato started to feel confident that this interference was in their favour.

"Nohara Rin."

That voice was calm and condescending voice, coming straight from Danzou.

The beast of a girl roared in response—a shrieking rageful noise dripping with hatred—and Nagato almost panicked when the tailed chakra trashed and snapped in correspondence to the girl's roar.

But Konan was still held safe in the loose curl of the tail-shaped chakra, looking confused and awed, yet relatively uninjured while the one that wrapped around Yahiko didn't budge an inch.

"What are you doing here, child?" Danzou spoke with that calm condescending voice again. "Stop this nonsense now—"

**_"PERISH."_ **

He was silenced with another massive shock blast of steaming hot water.

Rin didn't stop there. Her chakra-tails snapped like a vicious whip, separating from the portions that were wrapping around Yahiko and Konan, coating them both in a deep reddish-magenta cloak of chakra that took the form of a deformed turtle while the rest receded to the snarling girl. The chakra still carried the tinge of angry red even as they faded to a more soothing magenta as the tails then snapped in one sharp move, sending tiny high-velocity needles straight to the rest of the troops.

Most didn't survive.

The troops have scattered to evade the attack, but the needles were too fast for them. They were left trembling on their legs with blood dripping from their body. Some were blinded, making it seem like they were crying blood while the rest looked like they were sweating blood. It was a sight of horror—far worse than the actual warzone in fact—as they collapsed one by one like a broken rag doll.

Those of Ame who could still stand has scattered away, running for their lives and left Hanzou behind.

The very few remaining ROOT agents stood still, emotionless despite the injuries they sustained.

Konan took that opportunity to sunshin straight into Nagato's embrace, crashing onto him and Yahiko with a perfectly hidden sob of relief. She was still coated with the magenta chakra cloak and it took Nagato an effort to not jerk back at the unexpected soothing warmth of the bubbling chakra. She squeezed his arm with one hand, while the other reached out to hold Yahiko's hand and he did the same, keeping each of his hands on his packmates' bodies, deeply grateful that they were alive.

He looked up to the battlefield, just in time to meet the pink gaze that was directed at them.

Rin smiled at him, surprisingly soft-looking despite the fangs. Just like her smile, her inhuman eyes softened too, switching to a tender gaze.

Nagato didn't realise that he was returning her smile until he felt his smile dropped upon a sudden barrage of wind attack.

The chakra tail protected them, sparing them from the fate of being sliced apart just like the rocks around their little circle. At the middle of the battlefield, Rin barely flinched despite being the main focus of the attack. Her tender gaze switched back to the rageful one. She crouched onto all fours, teeth bared to display all four of her massive fangs and the noise that ripped out of her throat was that of an angry beast.

"Impressive."

Nagato should've known that it wouldn't be that easy to be rid of Danzou of Konoha.

Despite being in the direct line of Rin's fatal attack earlier, the man apparently has managed to survive. His left side was the only indicator that Rin has not missed her target earlier. The left side of his clothes was ripped—possibly washed away from the attack—to reveal pasty-white waxy skin covered in blisters and charring marks. There were red wet spots of torn skin all over his body but Danzou showed no signs of retreating at all.

He didn't even show any signs of being in pain, despite the injuries he sustained.

Instead, his smirk was that of a taunt and a challenge to the growling Rin.

"What are you going to do now, my child?" he said in that same calm voice, fixing his gaze on Rin's inhuman eyes without an ounce of fear. "Are you going to kill me? Embrace the hate and keep this cycle going?"

Rin answered him with a feral growl.

Despite that, her chakra-tails snapped and extended away from her, only separating once it was able to trap Nagato, Yahiko and Konan in a tight dome of defence.

It didn't escape Danzou's keen eyes.

"Peace," Rin said, voice trembling and strangely human. _"Peace."_

Danzou narrowed his eyes at the meek voice. He then shifted a step backwards when Rin suddenly snapped her head up to glare at him.

**_"I want peace!"_ **

That demand was a thundering roar—mixed voices of a grieving girl and an angry beast.

The expression that was on Danzou's face was contemplating and thoughtful.

Then, Danzou shifted on his feet, tilted his head towards his remaining agents before they all vanished in a burst of sunshin.

Konan looked up from Yahiko's pale face to meet Nagato's eyes, sharing the look of bafflement as they felt Danzou and ROOT's chakra retreated farther and farther away from the battlefield, heading back to Konoha.

"They retreated?" Konan mouthed, her grip on Nagato's arm tightened.

Nagato has no answer for that.

It could still be a ploy to get them all off guard, but the protective dome around his pack has dissipated, leaving the chakra cloak that shrouded Konan and Yahiko to remain. There was probably no need of that protection, considering that Hanzou was the only one left at the opposing sides.

The man has finally snapped out of his horror upon Danzou's unexpected retreat.

"Bitch," he spat in the direction of Danzou's retreating chakra before shifting his gaze in the direction of his city where his troops have fled to. "Cowards."

"Yield," Rin growled, sounding more human than beast now.

"To a mere beta?" Hanzou sneered. "I don't think so, little girl."

Then, Konan started screaming.

She screamed and screamed before crumpling like a broken doll straight into Nagato's arms, writhing in agony as cursed patterns spread all over her skin, feeding off the chakra cloak that shrouded her body as it tormented her.

"Unlike Kiri….," Hanzou said, eyes crinkled tauntingly, _knowingly_. "We know how to keep our hostage."

Apparently, that was enough to strike a nerve in Rin.

Rin's chakra spiked again. Her body curled to that beast-like crouch, now moving on all fours rather on two legs. Her lips parted open in a gnarled grimace, four fangs glistened with saliva as if she was thirsting for Hanzou's blood. Angry red tinted the magenta chakra that shrouded her body, thickening for each deep growl that ripped out of her throat. Her chakra-tails snapped like whips, heating every puddle around her to boiling mud and water—

"Yield, little girl."

She didn't yield.

Instead, Nohara Rin _raged_.

Hell hath no fury over a woman's scorn.

* * *

If he hasn't already lost Obito twice, he would've Raikiri this one.

"I want to go!"

Really. If he didn't love this boy so much, he would've Raikiri him. Probably nowhere near any vital area, but Kakashi would make it so that Obito could finally—FINALLY—stop moving. Obito would be better off incapacitated due to Kakashi's own doing rather than going all suicidal like this.

"No," Kakashi said, firm and unwavering.

Obito glared at him, reached out a hand and just when Kakashi wanted to evade what he expected would be a punch, the Uchiha's hand slipped past his ear, made a quick grab on his hair and tugged _hard._

Ouch.

This is why only the strongest of the strongest shinobi would have the vanity to keep their hair long. God damn it.

"No," Kakashi remained with his stand, falling back to his ANBU skills to not show any emotions even when Obito tugged harder on his low ponytail. "You're injured. Stay here."

"No! I'm going!"

As if to prove his stubbornness, Obito pulled harder on the ponytail.

Kakashi was half-convinced that his neck would snap if the abuse on his hair went on.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. This is like Naruto all over again. Stupidly suicidal. Naruto and Obito are probably brothers born in different clans. The suicidal stupidity couldn't be anything else but a dominant genetic trait.

_"Sensei!"_

_You know I am right_ , Kakashi yelled back at his student, channelling his frustration at Obito towards Naruto.

On second thought, Naruto probably deserved that too, considering how much frustration the boy has caused to him due to his reckless suicidal stupidity back then during the first time around.

 _"Meanie! Meanie!"_ Naruto shrieked. _"You can't call me that when you're far more suicidal than me! You collapsed from chakra exhaustion a lot, sensei!"_

_My chakra reserve is nowhere as massive as yours. This sharingan is constantly feeding on my chakra. And I don't have Kyuubi to cheat. **You** would've been constantly passing out of chakra-exhaustion if you're in the same situation as me._

Naruto spluttered on his own argument, and Kakashi took that opportunity to tune out of that argument just so that he could focus on _this_ argument.

He planted his hands on Obito's shoulders, steeled his nerves against the widened puppy eyes, and fought off the soft scent of helplessness and pleading that Obito was emitting as he uttered out his firm decision.

"No."

With that, he turned around, completely ignoring the way Obito gaped at him in pure disbelief as he waited for that brief second for Fuwa to leap and sat on his shoulder before he activated his sharingan to Kamui his way out.

If Obito's vision was right, then it would mean that Danzou has made his move against the trio of Akatsuki far earlier than the first time around. It oddly made sense—in the worst way possible—because there was no way in hell the old man would stay put after discovering Kakashi's clones in Konoha. Kakashi knew that his clones didn't give anything away in the interrogation, but Danzou still has the knowledge that someone was keeping tabs on Konoha from outside the village's gates.

He could wish that Danzou assumed the clones were sent by anyone that was an enemy of Konoha.

But Kakashi was never a hopeful optimist. That was Naruto, and to a certain extent, Obito too.

He, on the other hand, has always been a mix of pessimist and realist.

He couldn't shrug the idea that Danzou noticed the seals on his clones—the intricate seals to keep them durable and far stronger than normal shadow clones— since the man himself was proficient in fuuinjutsu and knew that the number of people capable of such seals was close to none.

If Danzou has suspicions that the refugee couple he caught in Konoha were actually enhanced clones of _the Ghost_ , it would make sense that he would try to eliminate Akatsuki as soon as possible. The peace-advocating organisation would be the right kind of group that the infamous Ghost would wish to make ally with.

Fuwa's clawed grip on his cloak deepened as Kamui swirled open and Kakashi stepped into the vortex with Nagato as his focus, barely noticing the slight tug on his nape, dismissing it as Fuwa's natural nervousness travelling through Kamui—

—only to swear in surprise when his landing on Ame's land was that of a stumble that almost made he kissed the muddy ground. He barely caught himself mid-fall with his hands, but almost lost his balance again when a heavy weight landed on his back.

It was not the light fluffy weight of his puppy.

"Ooof! Ouch."

Kakashi resisted the urge to plant his face in the mud.

Of course. Of _fucking_ course. He could never stop Naruto's stubbornness. How the hell did he manage to delude himself to think that he could stop Obito? Those two were basically born out of the same mould.

But he has no time to contemplate his sudden urge to bury himself in the mud and remain there until the next world war. The supposedly cool air of humid Ame was now uncomfortably hot. Unnatural waves of powerful chakra rippled across the area, signalling something that Kakashi was sadly familiar with. Meanwhile, Obito's grip on his cloak tightened at the same time with the beastly roar that thundered across the battlefield.

Then, he felt the weight that was straddling his back scrambled away.

Oh, shit.

"Rin," Obito breathed out, wide eyes fixed on the beastly silhouette as he hobbled closer. "Rin," he called out, louder now. "RIN!"

Kakashi's heart almost stopped when Obito practically ditched his crutches and ran towards the beast.

Suicidal. Suicidal idiot.

Obito wasn't even supposed to be able to run, damn it!

_"Um, sensei…"_

_Not a good time to talk, Sakura._

_"Have you forgotten how stubborn Naruto is?"_ Sakura hummed, sounding amused. _"Obito is no different."_

Well, fuck. His little kunoichi had a point.

Thankfully, Obito's current speed was nowhere close to a civilian's top speed _jog_ , so a quick burst of sunshin was enough for Kakashi to stop the suicidal idiot from being hurt by the sudden shock waves that Isobu created. He caught sight of the founders of Akatsuki at the far end of the field and promptly activated Kamui once he had Obito safely in his arms.

Nagato's chakra spiked in surprise once Kakashi reappeared next to him.

Kakashi ignored the Akatsuki leader in favour of berating this suicidal idiot he has the misfortune of being fond of.

"Stay put," Kakashi said the moment Obito opened his mouth to protest. "We're going to talk about this later."

Obito has the balls to cross his arms over his chest and pout at Kakashi as if Kakashi was the one being unreasonable.

_The nerve of this boy._

Fuwa, on the other hand, finally de-clawed himself from Kakashi's cloak as he left his perch on his master's cloak to attend to Yahiko.

Though, that wasn't before he gave Kakashi the flat deadpan of you-are-my-adorable-idiot-of-a-master look that he has mastered in this short month Kakashi has adopted him.

_The nerve of this pup._

Fuwa barked at him, tilting his head in Konan's direction but the steady glow of green around his paws didn't waver around Yahiko's wound. Nagato was kneeling beside the puppy, looking both awed and baffled, with one hand still tangled with half-unrolled bandages while the other was holding onto Konan's hand, squeezing her sweaty palm in silent support.

Kakashi winced.

This wasn't how he planned to introduce himself to Nagato.

_"Cursed seal."_

Sasuke's grim comment diverted Kakashi's attention towards Konan. He silently nodded at the comment, recognising the spreading patterns almost too easily.

Studying the archives of Uzushio was a brilliant choice.

Nagato kept Kakashi under a careful watch as he weaved a quick seal to ease up Konan's pain and slowed down the spread of the curse. That was all that he could do with such limited time. There was a deep roar coming from the crater that Rin was in and such beast-like roar instantly reminded Kakashi of Naruto when the first time the boy was influenced by Kyuubi.

There was no saving for whoever it was at the receiving end of Rin's wrath, but Rin could still be saved from being consumed by Isobu's chakra.

In this situation, there was no time for complete seal removal.

Konan would have to suffer for a little bit longer.

"Fuwa," Kakashi said, planting his palm over the puppy's head to give him a chakra boost. "First-aid on Yahiko. Then, pain relief on Konan," he ordered, before turning his gaze to Obito. "Stay here. I'll be back with Rin."

He didn't wait for an affirmative.

He should have.

* * *

Danzou was a good distance away from the battlefield when the dark night went impossibly bright.

His remaining agents remained emotionless by his flanks, but Danzou could feel the trembles of their chakra—the primitive, deep-set fear of a prey upon knowing that a big predator was nearby—and he couldn’t help but huffed an amused smile.

The dark night sky went bright with crackling white lightning, illuminating the black flames that were engulfing the barren horizon that they just left.

The infamous Ghost has just joined the battle, it seemed.

The roar of the Sanbi thundered across the landscape, sounding more like a far-fetched echo at this distance. Danzou wasn't sure if that was the reason he was so distracted, or the equally far-fetched howl he heard as the sky again went bright was the one that distracted him, but either way, he didn't sense Hiruzen at all until the very last minute.

"You're injured," was all that the Sandaime said the moment Danzou stopped to a halt.

Danzou averted his eye from meeting Hiruzen's tender gaze.

"Hanzou is dead," he reported, knowing that in a normal situation, this would end up with a trial under the charge of treachery against the Hokage. "Ame would probably fall into Akatsuki's hands by dawn."

And the Akatsuki would have the Ghost and the Sanbi as their strongest allies.

Konoha should probably charge him with the crime of treason by this point. Who knew what else would happen if they allow him to continue manipulating strings behind the scenes, driving loyal strong shinobi away from the village? They would end up facing a revolution if Hiruzen didn't stop him.

By the written law of Konoha, Danzou should be executed for the charge of treason and abuse of power.

This was all his own doing after all. He pulled strings and manipulated the events in the village for his own personal agenda. He made a pact with a foreign village in his own accord, without the Hokage's knowledge.

Not that Hiruzen didn't already know.

The _Sandaime_ didn't know, but Hiruzen did _._

The _Sandaime_ has the responsibility to put him on trial.

 _Sarutobi Hiruzen_ has the responsibility to protect him.

Such irony of life.

"And Jiraiya's students?" the Sandaime asked again. "Are they all alive?"

Hiruzen's voice sounded tired, exhausted even.

Danzou was tired too.

So Danzou remained in silence, allowing himself to fall to the effects of the concussion that Rin has given him. He couldn't feel the left side of his body, but he knew that it would be a disgusting gristly sight with all those blisters and red spots of charred skin. A third-degree burn was never a pleasant sight, despite relatively being painless due to the complete damage of the skin and pain nerves underneath.

If he was a decade or two younger, Danzou would've worried that this will left major scarring on his body.

Not anymore.

Danzou was _tired_.

"Scatter."

It was a quiet order, one that ROOT would normally not obey as they only answer to Danzou—

—but Danzou himself was very tired.

Exhausted. He was very exhausted.

Hence, he moved his fingers, signing his agents to return home and get some rest.

Hiruzen didn't hesitate to pull him into an embrace the moment they were left alone.

"Stop this," the Sandaime said, being mindful of Danzou's left side as he tightened the embrace. "It's me who you're mad at," Hiruzen pleaded, desperate and hopeful. "Not Konoha. Not the Uchiha. Not these innocent children. It's _me_."

No.

Hiruzen was wrong.

The only one that Danzou wasn't mad at were these innocent children.

But he didn't bring it up.

He didn’t bring it up even as Hiruzen had Enma to reverse-summon them straight into the Sarutobi's household. He didn't bring it up when Biwako treated his burns and injuries with silent kindness. He didn't bring it up even as Hiruzen escorted him home. He didn't bring it up even as he felt Hiruzen lingered for a few more minutes outside his residence.

They wouldn't understand anyway.

Danzou staggered into the lonely hallway of his house, moving on pure auto-pilot by this point, and he would’ve fallen flat on his bed to a dreamless sleep if only one of his agents didn’t interrupt his mindless path.

"Danzou-sama," the agent said with a quiet voice. "Shall I tell the Young Master that you have returned?"

_These children were collaterals._

Danzou couldn't resist that tiny quirk of a smile on his face.

"What of his guardians?" he asked.

"They already went to bed. The Young Master snuck out of the compound."

As if on cue, Danzou heard air-light footsteps made their way across the hallway.

And like a potent genjutsu, he couldn't help the smile from truly growing on his face. He didn’t care though. It was the first genuine smile he has had in _weeks_. It didn't even take long before a chubby face with a thick tuft of curly black hair peeked around the arch, only to beam brightly upon seeing him.

Danzou's smile went brighter, litting up his face with genuine joy.

_These children were only unfortunate victims._

They were the unfortunate victims who stood by the sidelines and inevitably received the brunt of his hatred.

"Grandmama!" the child squealed, bursting to a sunshin straight into Danzou's open arms. "Welcome home."

These children were never his major target.

"I'm home," he murmured, taking the liberty of the general numbness of his bandaged left side and the painkiller Biwako had offered to him to cradle the boy closer.

There was a giggle as the child squirmed to bury his face at the crook of Danzou's neck. Danzou accommodated the wriggling, smiling fondly when his little boy finally settled to nestle against his chest, wide dark eyes fluttered shut as if he was content upon hearing Danzou’s heartbeats. When he spoke again, the child's next words were muffled by his own skin.

"I miss you, Grandmama."

Danzou buried his face into the thick curly hair. "Miss you too, sweetheart."

Shisui beamed up at him, curling up even closer in his embrace.

Really. How could he ever be mad at these innocent children?

* * *

Well, apparently the Sanbi-Rin was more stubborn than Naruto and Obito combined.

Kakashi heaved, coughing out mud and a stuttering breath after yet another failed attack. God damn it. He almost pitied the citizens of Amegakure. Not only were their leader being pummelled to death by a thirteen-year-old girl, but they also have to go through this portion of the night hearing the Sanbi's roar and witnessing the unholy combo of Raiju and Amaterasu merely miles outside their gates.

It would be a miracle if anyone was actually able to get some sleep in the city of Ame right now.

Both of Kakashi's trump cards were no use against a literal water bijuu, moreover now that the Sanbi has fully taken the silhouette of a giant turtle—a red shadow of the actual beast that Kakashi has once fought in the Fourth War. His doton jutsu wasn't strong enough to restrain Isobu, while challenging the water bijuu using suiton was straight up a stupid and futile effort.

Not that Kakashi would give up.

He spurred into action, white lightning wolf illuminated the dark area as he charged towards the beast again, mind racing for a plan to stop this rampage without hurting Rin. Rin was fairly distracted with fighting him now, but any time now and she would shift her attention towards the city of Ame.

She needed to be stopped.

But Kakashi didn't get the Six Path abilities from Sasuke and Naruto in this mixed body, so no rinnegan and mokuton at his disposal. On the other hand, Nagato seemed to be too shaken to aid him, moreover with the way Yahiko laid unmoving from the blood loss while Konan was still writhing in pain from the cursed seal.

The shock and mental blow from almost killing your friend with your own hands, and then seeing the other friend being tortured with immense pain would have been a mental strain for the red-haired Uzumaki.

Add that to the fact that Nagato was barely eighteen—the emotions would have been overwhelming.

Kakashi understood that feeling. He understood that all too well. He suffered _years_ thinking about it.

There was no way Nagato would be in the state of mind to fight a rampaging bijuu right now.

Kakashi was forced to deactivate his lightning before he could teleport close enough to the beast, having to Kamui mid-air to escape the sudden blast of hot water directed at him. Channelling raiton through the watery ground would probably be an effective attack, but to incapacitate a rampaging bijuu would require a hell lot of raiton—one that would be a lethal voltage for a human.

If he tried that, Rin's life would be at risk, and so did Obito and the rest who were currently standing on the wet ground.

Seizing control over the bijuu using his sharingan was his best non-fatal plan right now. This beast was no longer Rin at this moment. This was the final stage of an unstable bijuu transformation. The bright red chakra has completely shrouded Rin's body, forming the solid outline of the gigantic turtle beast that he has fought back in the Fourth Ninja War.

Rin's consciousness no longer existed in this rageful ball of chakra.

To save her, sharingan was his best choice, but did he want to do it?

What differs him from Madara then? Madara seized control over Kyuubi using the sharingan, and if he did the same to Isobu, he would be no different from the mad Uchiha. He would betray the bijuu's trust in him this way—

_" **God damn it, kit."**_

Kakashi jerked mid-air at the exasperated voice in his head but was able to recover from the surprise quick enough as he landed in the middle of the mist that Isobu-Rin has created. He held in his breath, squinting through the mist as he belatedly remembered the hallucinogenic property of the Sanbi's mist—

—he blinked, and all of sudden he was no longer in the muddy terrains of Amegakure.

"Where—?"

Kakashi fell into silence once he met the looming red gaze of Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Kyuu—," he caught himself midway and quickly corrected himself. "Kurama-sama."

Kyuubi snorted.

 ** _"Drop the honorifics, kit,"_** the fox scowled. ** _"Considering our situation, you might as well get familiar with me."_**

Well, that made socialising with this grumpy tsundere bijuu so much easier, no sarcasm intended.

"Where am I?" Kakashi asked anyway, regardless of the bizarre notion of being pulled mid-fight into this strange place.

Heck, was this a hallucination from Isobu's mist?

_Is this reality?_

_What is reality?_

Kakashi wanted to pretend that Kyuubi's sudden facepalm has nothing to do with the existential questions that were plaguing his mind. He refused to acknowledge the idea that the bijuu might be able to read his mind.

Denial has always been his best skill after all.

 ** _"You're in bijuu psyche plane,"_** Kyuubi sighed, standing up from his curl, eyes narrowed down onto Kakashi. **_"No time to talk, so listen up, kit. The Kyuubi of this world is inside Kushina, so I can't exactly talk to my troublesome little brother out there without invoking a worse reaction than this."_**

Kakashi opened his mouth to ask but was quickly cut off by the Kyuubi.

 ** _"Two Kyuubi in the same time period would raise suspicions,"_** the fox sniffed, grabbing Kakashi up by the hood of his cloak to level their gaze at the same height. **_"Warn them all—the bijuu and the jinchuuriki. Let them convene a gathering of bijuu. I'll talk to them then."_**

Kakashi nodded obediently.

 ** _"Good,"_** Kyuubi nodded in satisfaction before his red gaze softened by a tiny bit. **_"After this chaos ended, find a peaceful place to meditate."_**

"Uhh…"

Kakashi wondered if he should even ask the reasoning behind that.

The Kyuubi was an even more intimidating creature now that he was face-to-face and at such close contact with the beast.

Though, Kyuubi's responding smirk to his obvious confusion oddly reminded him of Naruto's mischievous scheming grin.

 ** _"Later_** **,"** the fox smirked, lightly tapping the tip of his claw right at the centre of Kakashi's forehead in a way that reminded Kakashi of the fond flicking he often saw Itachi did to Sasuke. **_"Now, think of an animal."_**

"Uhhh…," he blurted out, utterly confused.

_What the frickin frack is that supposed to do?_

Kurama sighed, rolling his eyes in pure exasperation.

**_"An animal, Hatake."_ **

Kakashi thought for a second, toying with the end of his ponytail as he did so and smiled as the memories of his father's wolfish smug smirk flashed in his mind. He quirked a fond smile at the memories and slowly lifted his head up to meet the Kyuubi's gaze with his decision;

 _"_ Wolf."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Yes, the nine bijuu of this universe is a pack. Kyuubi is the alpha. Since they shared a deeper link than human's pack, Isobu was able to see the last moments of his siblings before capture, because that was when their emotional level was at the highest and it alerted the rest of the bijuu.  
> 2\. Tobirama is complete BFF with Matatabi, hence why he fought to death to defend her and she allowed herself to be captured to protect him.  
> 3\. Hanzou really shouldn't bring up the hostage-Kiri thing around Rin. That is a triggering topic.  
> 4\. Obito could not reach Rin's mind at all when she was rampaging as a beast.  
> 5\. Kurama asked Kakashi to meditate later for an extremely specific reason.  
> 6\. Obito is totally gonna do something stupid that will give Kakashi a cardiac failure in the next chapter
> 
> Now a question for you:
> 
> Do you think that there existed a truly, 100% evil villain in this story?
> 
> P/S: You might want to go back to my universe-building notes in previous chapters if you're confused on why Shisui called Danzou "Grandmama" instead of "Grandpa". This will shed a whole lot of stuff about Danzou, and probably gave you hints on why the hell he hated Konoha and the Uchiha so much.
> 
> Also, to diana_the_hufflepuff, thank you for the essays of comments that pointed out my hectic and terrible plot holes. I really appreciate it.
> 
> And to some of you Madara fans who wanted him to be redeemed...Squint at the little mention of him during Rin's POV. Squint REALLY tight.
> 
> Kbye. See you in two weeks!


	14. Idiocy, sass and all the feelings~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few hours later than the usual update time. Hehe. My brother noticed my gloomy mood and gang-up with my sister and muse to take me out to a waterpark. Hope you don't mind the slight delay.
> 
> Un-betaed. Probably will come back to edit. For now, enjoy the update~!

* * *

On extremely rare occasions, Obito enjoyed embracing his title as the idiot and dead-last of the class.

He didn’t often do it, moreover around the elders of his clan, because such title would usually be followed with the extremely annoying speech of how that was the reason he should quit being a shinobi and just focused on being a good mother to his future pups.

It was irritating.

Sure, they kinda have a few valid points in their argument. Obito has always been a bit slow in picking up the shinobi skills. He struggled with the most basic of shuriken jutsu, despite the constant offers of training help from his clansmen. He couldn’t produce a proper clone during his first graduation test, leaving him as the only one among his batch who has to repeat the test multiple times. He was hopeless in kenjutsu, despite that being the specialised skill set of literally every Uchiha ever.

The only time he was terrifying was when he worked in a team with Rin.

The only thing that he was extremely good at on his own was negotiating and diplomacy.

(He was a surprisingly good middle man between multiple _violently_ opposing parties, but he credited that skill to the fact that it has always been him that has to break a fight within the clan, especially whenever Mikoto and Fugaku weren’t around.)

In short, Obito knew that he was the worst shinobi ever existed in the Uchiha’s history.

It didn’t make it any less irritating though, to be forced to listen to the exact same speech every time he had the misfortune of being stuck with any of the elders.

Despite that, he tried his best regardless of his weaknesses, not letting their words become a hindrance for him.

As their words fell to his deaf ears, the elders switched tactics and started pushing him into entering the diplomat branch.

The branch itself wasn't bad despite the minimum action, as it provided him with a clear path to become a part of the administrative councillors that deal with the Daimyou—something that would surely boost the clan's standing among the _paying_ nobles and the village’s social hierarchy in general.

To be honest, Obito wouldn’t mind going into that career path at all.

However, these old coots reasoned this decision because it meant Obito would have more time spent at home since he won’t be sent to missions often. It was safer, they said. You wouldn't die young and childless, they said. Add that to their argument that it wouldn’t be much of a loss to the village’s military power if he chose to not be an active shinobi…

Well, _that_ had Obito to nope the idea right off the bat.

It was super irritating, especially when he realised that he was the only one having been at the receiving end of such speech.

The girls of the clan didn’t receive it despite being mostly omegas. He has never heard beta girls of his class received the same speech, and neither did other omega males from the smaller clans. Even _civilian_ girls did not receive such speech from their family. He was the _only_ one, just because he was one of a kind in his whole clan.

Why? Is he _that_ special of a snowflake? The elders have always treated him like he was a prince and a prisoner—protected and cared for, but also being restricted in so many ways—that Obito didn’t realise the sheer oddness of the treatment until Rin became a permanent part of his life. He has asked Fugaku and Mikoto about it—on why he was treated this way when he wasn't anyone special, considering that his grandmother was only half-Uchiha and his father hardly ever used his sharingan—but neither of them knew the reasoning. It has always been that way since his grandmother re-joined the clan, and Fugaku himself was clueless. The Clan Head only followed what the elders have dictated without knowing the reasoning behind it.

So yeah, Obito didn’t really enjoy embracing his title as the idiot of the class.

But, on rare occasion like this, he would make an exception.

Thus, he waited until Sakuto turned around.

Obito reached out right at that exact moment—pointedly ignoring the way Fuwa was banging his fluffy head to the back of Sakuto’s cloak as if the pup was lamenting on the idiot Obito has chosen to be—and quickly grabbed a hold on the low silver ponytail moments before Sakuto activated Kamui.

Fuwa slapped his cheek with a soft paw the moment they both fell tumbling onto Sakuto’s back.

What a brat of a puppy.

Though, there was no time to engage in a glaring match with the puppy now.

There was a roar thundering across the landscape—a loud unholy roar that rocked the Earth—and Obito was scrambling off Sakuto's back right the next second.

It was a bad idea.

He winced, being painfully reminded of the current predicament of his injuries the moment he stepped onto the ground. Pain seared up his right leg like wildfire, barely easing up even as he shifted his weight onto the crutch—

Then, Rin roared again.

The pain was no longer a hindrance.

The broken noise in his head was distorted—like the statics of the newly-developed radio that R&D department has tried to push into the shinobi’s standard supplies—and Obito couldn’t reach Rin despite all the yelling and screaming from his part.

The distortion was far far worse than when she was trapped in the genjutsu back in the Kannabi mission.

Obito couldn’t hear Rin’s thoughts at all.

He tried to reach out for her, tried to break through the static that distorted their link, but everything seemed to be futile.

She couldn’t hear him just as he couldn’t hear her.

But Obito could _feel_ her anguish. The waves of sorrow and grief rippled across their distorted link before it was quickly overwhelmed with inhuman anger and hatred.

Rin was _fading_.

That was all that it took to spur Obito into pure reckless action. He screamed for her—voice, mind, soul; he used them all to reach for her—pushing himself past the pain as he completely ditched his crutches and ran to comfort his grieving sister—

He barely saw the shock-waves of hot water blasting straight to his face before the world swirled and he ended up cradled in a bridal carry, tucked in Sakuto’s arms as they reappeared a good distance away from the rampaging Rin.

Naturally, after such recklessness, Sakuto would keep him at the sidelines.

But not for long.

“He asked you to stay put.”

Obito pursed his lips and lowered his gaze, emitting the hopeless scent of distress that he knew would typically bend even Fugaku into submitting to his whims. He kinda felt bad for using this on Nagato, but desperate time calls for desperate measure. He slackened his posture when Nagato seemed to be resistant, changing his intention from comforting to persuading.

The impact was instantaneous.

Nagato stiffened almost instantly, his body turning rigid while ringed purple orbs stared at Obito with the slightest dazed look. The dazed look then slowly morphed to a scowl, a frown grew on Nagato’s face, replacing the comforted blissed expression to that of a disbelieving expression.

Obito quirked a tiny smirk.

No one ever understood how the hell he was so good at negotiating and manipulating people to listen to him.

No one.

He then tentatively looked up, curling his lips into a hesitant hopeful pout.

He internally cheered the moment Nagato’s body went lax—a tattle-tale sign that the red-haired finally caved into his natural instinct.

“Please?” he added, just for a good measure.

Nagato openly whimpered.

“O-okay,” the red-haired agreed, voice weak even as he produced a shadow clone to replace his duty holding onto Konan’s trembling hands and Yahiko’s limp ones. “But you’re going to take responsibility if he asked.”

“Take me closer to them,” Obito assured. “That’s all that I ask.”

Nagato let out another soft helpless whimper.

“You’re evil _and_ suicidal,” the red-head murmured then, voice still weak and helpless even as he tentatively reached out to Obito. “This is stupid.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Obito grinned, allowing himself to be carried by Nagato. “And you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Nagato’s face twisted to a torn expression, looking like Obito just gave him the ultimatum that he could not fulfil.

Obito cracked a tiny smile when Nagato started running.

It was relieving to know that he could still do this.

Sakuto showed no signs that he even noticed Obito’s attempt of persuading him using this tactic earlier, so Obito wasn’t sure if his injuries had an effect on whatever parts of his biology that allowed him to easily persuade any alpha in close proximity with him to pause and consider his request. Heck, he was surprised when he was able to comfort Nagato’s spiking anxiety the moment Fuwa collapsed out of chakra exhaustion, despite being fully convinced that he has lost this little ability when Sakuto didn’t react to him earlier.

Not that he would complain.

After all the annoying things he had to deal with, being able to influence the mood of nearby alphas is an ability that he enjoyed. Their nature made this all too easy, especially during the monthly blood fall.

Alphas tend to be so easily submissive to his whims during that particular week after all.

But of course, Sakuto wasn’t affected.

Which was kinda irritating in a weirdly exciting way. It was almost like a challenge.

Obito _loves_ challenges.

Though, that needed to wait until he had both of his packmates in his arms and hugged their life out of their traitorous missing-nin asses.

Which beg the next question.

_Where is Bakashi?_

“Um, Nagato-san?” Obito asked as Nagato landed on a rock halfway towards the battle.

“Hmm?”

“Is there anyone else with Rin when she first arrived here?”

“No,” the answer came in a heartbeat. “Why?”

“Nothing,” Obito said, lowering his gaze as he tried to drown the fear that has reared its ugly head in his subconscious. “They must have split ways then.”

Probably sensing his spiralling mood, Nagato wisely remained in silence.

Obito tried not to think of the reasons that Kakashi wasn’t with Rin.

It wasn’t like Kakashi at all—at least, wasn’t like the Kakashi that Obito has to yell at back at the cave when the brat wanted to turn around and retrieve Obito instead of escaping—and it was definitely so unlike Rin to let Kakashi out of her sight when she was convinced that she has lost Obito.

Rin has always cherished their bond—more than Kakashi and Obito, in fact—and has been overprotective over them both ever seen their team become a pack. She wouldn’t let her last brother out of her sight, moreover now that they were both missing-nin that would be vulnerable to bounty hunters.

It was worryingly odd that Kakashi wasn’t here.

Thankfully, Obito didn’t have the chance to drown in that worry.

It started with a flash of lightning.

The dark night turned impossibly bright. Pure lightning crackled from the ground rather than the sky as a piercing howl speared through the night, equally vicious and thundering as the roaring beast that Rin has become. The misty dome that the Sanbi has created burst to non-existence, dispersing like fading cloud to make way for the glowing silver mass that stood regal against the rampaging Sanbi.

Nagato halted, hands trembling, and eyes widened in horror.

Obito stared, hands curled to tight fist, eyes widened in awe.

Without him realising it, his sharingan slowly spun to life, capturing the regal beast into his eternal memory.

The rippling muscles of four strong limbs coated with shimmering silver fur. The massive tails—nine of them—crackled with pure lightning as they snapped in the air, sending statics so far across the battlefield that they made the hair on his arms stood.

Dark eyes gleamed, pitch black against the shimmering silver of the fur, intelligent and feral, yet so very human too, that it made Obito’s heart unknowingly stuttered a beat.

He has never seen something so dangerously beautiful.

The wolf lunged towards the Sanbi, clawed hands reaching out to pin the now completely transformed turtle onto the wet ground, massive jaw snapped dangerously close to the short stout neck of the Sanbi. Its appearance seemed to take the Sanbi off guard for a brief minute, before the turtle snapped out of it and quickly rolled into a spinning spiked ball, escaping the clawed clutch of the wolf in an instant.

The Sanbi unrolled itself once it was a good distance away from the wolf, pink glowing eyes stared intently at the shimmering silver wolf.

 ** _“Who are you?”_** the beast spoke in a deep gravelly voice that echoed throughout the whole barren wetland.

There was no verbal response, but some form of communication must have happened between the beasts because the Sanbi growled the very next minute, his form solidifying to the silhouette of a spiked turtle rather than the flickering shape of a beast earlier.

**_“There are only nine bijuu.”_ **

Nothing else was spoken after that declaration.

It was a full-on monster brawl.

* * *

Nagato has heard the rumours that Konoha’s shinobi were extremely eccentric when compared to the rest of the major villages.

Jiraiya-sensei kinda confirmed that rumour, because despite how much Orochimaru creeped Nagato out, the Snake Sannin had a point when he offered quick instant death to Nagato and his little pack.

It was the peak of the Second Shinobi War back then when they first encountered the trio of Sannin. The number of manpower were crucial to the warring nations and killing off war orphans like them would be a merciful thing to do as opposed to letting them struggle to survive in the aftermath of this war. Despite everything, Orochimaru has a point. He was the critical thinker of the team, thinking as a cold strategist rather than an emphatic human.

Because for all the goodness in the world, Nagato _knew_ that Jiraiya was low-key betraying Konoha when he decided to stay and train some orphaned Ame’s children right at the peak of the Second Shinobi War.

Ame wasn’t a trusted ally of Konoha. Tentative ally, yes, but both parties would be all too willing to stab each other on the back at moment’s notice. Danzou turning tails and abandoning Hanzou was the immediate proof.

Jiraiya’s compassion to train the children of Ame has the potentials to backfire, especially if Nagato decided to turn against Konoha. It was the stupidest decision among the most stupid decisions in history. One did not simply train a potential enemy.

Plus, Jiraiya-sensei was one of the Sannin. He was one of the strong shinobi of Konoha and for him to abandon his duties to train a trio of orphans (without so much of care given to the sheer absurdity of that decision) has shown how much of an eccentric a Konoha's shinobi could be.

This Uchiha boy was no different.

Eccentric. Suicidal. Stupid. _Insane._

“You’re insane.”

That’s it. That was the only thing Nagato could comment on this eccentric insanity.

Obito hummed, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, grimacing when the burden was on his right side though the determined gleam in his red eyes didn’t fade.

Nagato winced upon seeing that Obito was clearly favouring his left side rather than his right.

“I think this is close enough,” Obito said with a cheerful grin, very pointedly dismissing Nagato’s comment. He reached out a hand to squeeze Nagato’s shoulder, emitting waves of comforting gratitude. “Thank you,” he smiled, softer now as he shifted his gaze towards the far end of the field where Konan and Yahiko were. “Sorry for being so selfish and making you do this.”

Nagato’s eyes softened, gentle and understanding.

“She’s yours, isn’t she?” he murmured, eyeing the brawling monsters.

Obito’s responding smile was soft and gentle.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s why I need to bring her back.”

Nagato no longer has the heart to stop Obito.

He understood it all too well—the needs to protect that gleamed in those spinning sharingan, he understood it far too well. He didn't need to be told of the history behind the Konoha's pack. That determined gleam alone has told him more than enough about Rin and Obito—of their bond, of the obvious fact that Obito was the initiator, of the fact that the Uchiha boy was the nucleus that tied the pack together.

He may have been raised in ignorance to the ancient rules, but he knew the weigh of the bond to the initiator—the one who started it all, the one who tied the different individuals to one unit of linked family.

The deep sense of understanding he had was enough to convince him that despite the sheer suicidal stupidity of wanting to butt in between a literal monster brawl, Obito had a chance to calm the rampaging beast.

So, Nagato put his trust in the Uchiha, taking Obito by surprise as he swooped the smaller male in his arms and sunshin closer to the brawling beasts.

After all, Konoha’s shinobi were infamous for gaining their victory through unpredictable recklessness.

* * *

If his hair wasn’t already silver since birth, Kakashi was positive he would turn grey right at this instance.

“Rin!!!”

On second thought, even if his hair wasn’t showing the age that his soul just went through, he was sure as hell that his heart was on its way to a cardiac failure right now. Not even the amusing commentaries in his head could save him from this death.

 _“That is straight up Naruto-level reckless stupidity over there.”_ Sakura started.

_“Sakura-chaaannn!!!”_

_“Wait, why are we even surprised?”_

_“Not you too, Sasuke—”_

**_“I agree.”_ **

_“Kurama!”_

Kakashi resisted the urge to detach himself from this glowing silver chakra so that he could bury himself in the muddy crater that he just tossed Isobu into.The urge was getting stronger as seconds ticked by, but he resisted it, despite how appealing the muddy crater looked like as his permanent burial ground. It would be highly impractical to do so.

But dear Rikudou-Sennin, he really _wanted_ to.

This was it. He’s going to die of cardiac arrest right here.

God damn it, Obito.

Oh, wait. Maybe his heart has already stopped functioning. This can’t be real. Nagato shouldn’t be that carelessly reckless to aid with this suicidal stupidity, right? He was the leader of Akatsuki after all. That was the boy that grew to be the man that earned Uchiha Itachi’s respect. Uzumaki Nagato was a formidable opponent that surely wouldn’t be _this_ reckless, right? Maybe the Sanbi’s mist has actually killed him. Or trapped him in a weird hallucination. This can’t be real—

“RIN!”

Kakashi’s heart made a figurative backflip when Obito twisted out of Nagato’s hold and landed so ungracefully right at the centre of Sanbi’s forehead.

_“Holy shit Obito, you reckless motherfucker.”_

Kakashi was way too panicked to even pause and agree with Sakura’s commentaries.

Isobu trashed upon Obito’s ungraceful landing, looking like he wanted to bat the tiny human away from his forehead, thus causing Kakashi to spur into action right that instance.

Near-death hallucination or not, he did not want to watch Obito went splat at the hands of the Sanbi.

_Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope._

He recalled the way Naruto manipulated Kyuubi’s chakra back during the Fourth War, deeply grateful that he had the front-row seat to a bijuu’s prowess back then. Mimicking Naruto’s movements from those memories, Kakashi formed four Rasenshuriken, enhancing the spinning futon blade with Amaterasu’s flame that he directed towards the Sanbi’s limbs.

Isobu growled and halted for a brief second.

Kakashi took that opportunity to pin Isobu’s limbs down with all nine-tails of Kyuubi’s henge-ed form, sending pulses of weak raiton to electrocute and incapacitate the Sanbi.

It hardly worked, considering that Kakashi has to use minimum voltage to avoid accidentally injuring Rin and Obito.

Amaterasu was out of the equation too, now that Obito was standing on Isobu's head.

Isobu tried to retract his limbs into his shell once again, but the Kyuubi has quickly stopped that attempt by trapping the turtle’s stout neck between his massive jaws. There was a violent struggle to break free from the Sanbi’s part—creating even more muddy craters and completely altering the landscape as Isobu tried to break free—but Kyuubi kept his jaw clamped tight around the turtle’s neck, all nine silver crackling tails not budging from pinning Isobu down.

Isobu’s effort grew even more futile when glowing red chains emerged from the ground to shackle his limbs firm to the Earth.

Kakashi peered down to give Nagato a thankful nod.

He tried hard to not think about the awed star-struck look that was on the young Uzumaki’s face.

Shifting his attention away from his star-struck future ally, Kakashi redirected his gaze towards Obito, fully determined to strangle that idiot once they got Rin out of this bijuu transformation. It took a pure effort of his part to not detach himself from the glowing chakra-wolf that the Kyuubi has shrouded him in and yelled at his old friend.

His anxiety and worries have spiked up beyond the normal level he usually experienced that it was a wonder his heart hasn’t stopped functioning yet.

Not that Obito would know that.

Though, as if to pressure his old fragile heart more, Obito met his gaze and sent him a coy grin.

Then, the suicidal idiot turned around to stare into Isobu’s massive eyes—red sharingan meeting inhuman pink—and Kakashi almost screamed in pure horror when spinning tomoe emerged in the beast’s eyes.

_What. The. Actual. Fuck. Is. He. DOING??!!_

Isobu’s pink eyes turned to pure sharingan red.

Kakashi started hyperventilating.

_How? Why? Is this even possible? How? How? You’re injured. You’re not yet trained with that sharingan. How the hell did you put a literal motherfucking bijuu in a genjutsu—_

God damn it, Obito. 

Kakashi moved one crackling tail to retrieve Obito from the bijuu.

_“Kakashi, wait.” “Kaka-sensei, stop!”_

It was the combined voices of Naruto and Sasuke that stopped him from reaching out to pull Obito away from the Sanbi. This would end up badly to their future hopeful alliance with the bijuu. This wasn’t how one would gain the bijuu’s trusts, considering the bad history the bijuu had with a sharingan-user.

Kakashi has been restraining himself from manipulating the bijuu using his sharingan, and now Obito so easily used his sharingan on the bijuu.

God damn it, Obito.

 _“The sharingan is just a tool,”_ Naruto murmured, sounding oddly pleased for some unknown reason. _“Look carefully, Kaka-sensei.”_

Kakashi stared and squinted at Obito and saw nothing that would make sense of Naruto’s pleased tone.

 ** _“Damn that Uchiha brat,”_** Kurama huffed, sounding like he was _amused_ out of all things.

Kakashi wondered if the voices in his head have gone insane too—Kyuubi included.

But the amused tone of Kyuubi no Kitsune has halted his intention to stop Obito’s manipulation on the Sanbi. He obliged to Naruto’s words, focusing more of his attention on his friend and the Sanbi, fully trusting Nagato and the Kyuubi to keep Isobu restrained.

Obito looked so small now that he stood on the bijuu. His extended arms barely reached the corner of Isobu’s eyes as he embraced the bijuu’s snout. His head was smaller than Isobu’s irises—a tiny puny human as compared to the beast—but his posture was completely relaxed and calm.

At ease. That was Obito now. Calm and at ease, like he was around an ally rather than around a rampaging bijuu.

Obito rested his forehead against Isobu’s rough skin, nuzzling his nose like one would do to a harmless animal rather than a literal rampaging tailed-beast before his eyes slowly fluttered shut.

Kakashi’s anxiety and worries spiked up when the tomoe faded from Isobu’s eyes and the massive pink irises slowly darted to stare at Obito.

Though, oddly enough, the look in Isobu's eyes was soft and filled with curious wonder.

Kakashi could sense the shift in Isobu’s chakra too—the shift from anger and hatred to curiousity and wonder—but he refused to let his guard down.

And as if his life goal was to kill Kakashi with horror-induced heart failure, Obito stretched on his tip-toes and planted a kiss on Isobu's forehead.

The cardiac failure almost seemed too possible now as Isobu returned Obito’s gesture with a deep purr—that almost seemed adorable in the most horrifying way—and those massive pink eyes fluttered shut in peace.

Obito’s lips moved then, murmuring only one word to the beast.

_“Please.”_

That was what Kakashi’s sharingan could read from the movement of Obito’s lips.

And surprisingly, the beast listened. The silhouette of the giant turtle flickered from looking like actual flesh and blood turtle beast to a glowing form of magenta chakra-turtle with an unconscious Rin floating right on its forehead. It was a strange sight to behold, to see the Sanbi being at peace, especially after the battle that they had to stop the beast's rampage.

Obito reached his hands past through the glowing chakra, pulling Rin out and straight into his arms.

Isobu’s chakra vanished.

Obito and Rin fell, still tangled in a tight embrace.

Kakashi threw himself into the air as Kyuubi’s chakra faded into the thin air, reaching out to grab both of his old friends into the cradle of his arms.

He pulled them close to his chest, refusing to let go.

* * *

Konan tried really hard to not eavesdrop.

"So...."

“Shush. I need to concentrate.”

She resisted the reflex to arch her back when the brush stabbed a little too harsh at her spine, all the while pretending to be deaf to the conversation that was happening right behind her. 

“You’re sulking.”

“I’m trying to remove a cursed seal here.”

Well, she _tried._

“Geez, Sakuto.”

“What is it, _Obito_? _”_

Obito groaned.

“I’m in trouble, am I?” The words were said in an exasperated sigh.

There was a rustling sound, the brush against her skin was retracted away for a brief moment, hovering millimetres from her bare back.

“You _think_?”

Konan truly has tried her best to not eavesdrop.

Which was kinda hard to do, considering that the Ghost was practically breathing down her neck while the Uchiha boy was breathing down _his_ neck.

It really felt like she was third-wheeling between these two.

But she couldn’t exactly remove herself from this awkward tensed atmosphere. She needed help, and the only person capable of the skills to help her was currently breathing down her neck, painting her exposed skin with intricate ink of seals that looked even more difficult than the ones that Jiraiya-sensei often use. The pain has subsided when she woke from her brief unconsciousness, and she was strong enough now to move on her own without relying on Nagato for support.

On normal occasions, she would have shrugged this off and get on with her life.

However, the cursed seal is still there on her neck, pulsing with foreign invasive chakra.

She has no choice. She needed this seal to be completely removed. She was desperate to have it removed.

Didn’t make being between these two any less suffocating though.

Excluding her subordinates outside, she was the only one who was awake to listen to these lovebirds arguing. Nagato was slumped unconscious against the wall, curled up at the corner of the room—exhausted and drained—looking so small and young under the thick blanket. Nestled on his lap was a small limp fluff of fur that looked so dead if it didn't occasionally twitch and whimper.

They have been in that state long before she woke up.

The Ghost— _Hatake Sakuto—_ has informed her regarding Nagato’s absurd stubbornness of refusing to let her out of his sight. The reckless idiot has determinedly produced one clone to stay with Yahiko at the room next door while he followed them here to watch over her as she got this cursed seal removed. The small ball of fluff— _Fuwa_ , damn, she really needed to remember these names—has long knocked out unconscious, previously nestled against her heart as she woke to the soft green glow and the sight of the infamous Ghost hunched over Yahiko’s pale body.

Nagato refused to let the puppy away from his grasp too, clinging with pure gratefulness to the small ball of fluff that has collapsed out of chakra exhaustion to help ease up her pain.

Konan blinked in surprise when her view of sleeping Nagato was suddenly blocked by Sakuto.

Damn. The hope of the world sure is looking good.

“It isn’t that dangerous…,” Obito started, crutches thudding against the marble floor as he hobbled around the painted circle on the ground to hover behind Sakuto. “You’re overreacting—"

“Oh, sure. Shoving your way between a literal monster brawl is so D-rank kind of mission,” Sakuto returned, voice low like a growl, though Konan could hear the hint of sulkiness mixed in his voice. “What next? You’re gonna give free hugs and kisses to the warring troupe?”

Behind him, Obito rolled his eyes, leant his weight onto his crutches as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’re so passive-aggressive, do you know that?”

Sakuto shot him a dirty glare before turning his mismatched gaze at Konan, looking like he was fully determined to ignore Obito. He reached out his hands, the right one to hold Konan's shoulder while the left hand gripped on the brush with a tight death grip.

Konan pitied the poor guy.

The worries and anxieties that were plaguing his mind were so obvious from the deadly grip he had on the brush. Hell, she could feel the trembles of his palm and the dampness of his skin against her own.

Despite this strong façade and their apparent victory, Sakuto was still shaken.

The sun has already risen so bright in the sky, taking away the darkness yesterday away. The rain has stopped—something that was rare in Ame—and the laughter of celebrating civilians could be heard from outside. They were currently in Hanzou’s palace—Nagato having taken over the whole nation with the help of the Ghost before the dawn broke—with the rest of Akatsuki being summoned from their hideout to help in the revolution to take over Ame. They even had the mass with them, because the survivors from Hanzou's troops have returned with the news of what had happened just outside the gate of Ame, igniting the hope of the oppressed half of Amegakure to fight.

Konan was unconscious as it happened, but apparently, they have sent what little able-bodied people they had to venture outside the unguarded gates to greet the Ghost—having seen his prowess from afar last night—and proposed a hopeful wish for aid.

Hanzou was gone, yet his loyal tyranny council was still around.

These oppressed citizens have witnessed the battle last night. These people knew that symbol of peace and hope was literally outside their gates.

They didn’t waste any time to act.

The citizens of Ame seized the chance of the Ghost’s presence, giving information to allow Akatsuki’s invasion into their village in order to gain their own freedom from the remnants of Hanzou’s tyranny.

By daybreak, a new chapter in Ame has started.

Yet in all the hope this victory has brought, the infamous Ghost—the vital person who sparked the hope and strength inside these people—was still brimming with anxiety and paranoia.

It almost made Konan considered to discard her reservations of not hurting an injured person to slap some senses into Uchiha Obito’s face.

Sakuto was clearly still shaken with whatever reckless action that Obito has taken last night and this idiot of a brat was still trying to play it off like he just misplaced his kunai at the most stupid place instead of pulling who-knows-how-reckless-stunt.

“Are you seriously pretending that I did not exist?!”

Silence. The brush moved across Konan’s skin, painting intricate runes down her bare arms.

“Sakuto!”

Sakuto’s blue eye twitched, but he determinedly remained in silence, hesitating for a brief moment before he pushed the fabric covering Konan’s front up to her ribs.

“Oh, is this how you’re going to play it?”

Konan gave Sakuto an assuring smile, nodding her permission when his gaze sought her permission to push the cloth slightly higher.

Not one muscle of the silver-haired teen twitched to show that he was actually paying attention to Obito.

“Okay, fine.”

Konan’s internal sigh was echoed by Sakuto’s not-so-subtle groan.

Sakuto stared blankly off Konan’s shoulder, though his eyes were oddly wide and expressive. The shifts and twitches of his mismatched eyes gave the impression that he was having an intense dialogue in his own head. Then, his shoulders hunched in resignation, a pained grimace made its way onto his face as he turned his head to look over his shoulder, sending an annoyed glare in Obito’s direction.

“Obito—"

He was silenced right the next second.

Konan poorly hid a humorous snort, hiding her twitching lips behind the cloth that was covering her breasts.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Obito murmured, hands curving around Sakuto’s jaw, keeping the infamous Ghost in place as he planted a kiss on top of the silver spikes. “I did it to save Rin.”

Sakuto gaped, cheeks growing pinker for each second that ticked by.

Konan had to bite the cloth to hide her laughter when Sakuto flushed to a deep red when Obito pulled him into a hug.

This alliance seemed like it would be amusingly entertaining.

* * *

Kakashi’s cheeks were still flushed pink when he finally got to excuse himself from his adoring allies and fans.

There were still lots to do to secure Akatsuki’s rule in Ame—weeding out the corrupts politicians, freeing the wrongly imprisoned citizens, removing the slavery seals from the servants, and gathering trustworthy allies among the politicians—but Kakashi felt so drained. He was tired—both physically and emotionally—just like how it used to be back when he had the average chakra reserve that was constantly being drained by his sharingan.

After the events of last night, it felt justified to sleep for an hour or two once he got some moments for himself.

Yahiko was healed and would be up and running after a day or two of bedrest. Konan’s curse was removed, and she was already out there directing the rest of Akatsuki to deep clean the political hierarchy of Amegakure. Nagato would be fine once he got sufficient sleep. Rin would be probably joining Konan managing the new ruling system of Ame soon, considering that Isobu _promised_ Obito that he would help her heal from the inside.

Fuwa would be fine too (and hopefully returned to him) once Nagato was coherent and awake enough to let go of the pup.

The citizens of Ame was doing their best to pretend not witnessing the events last night—their cheery voices could be heard even from this private room that Hanzou's maids have prepared for Kakashi—and it seemed like they were working with Akatsuki for the betterment of their village.

All in all, things should be calm enough for Kakashi to flop onto the futon and get a short nap.

But his cheeks were still warm from the blood rush, he could still feel Obito’s calloused warm hands cupping his jaw and the light weight of his old friend’s lips on top of his head.

It almost made him bury his face to the pillow and screamed.

 _“Are you going to scream like how Sakura screamed whenever Sasuke so much acknowledge her?”_ Naruto randomly commented. _"Because that is not cool at all, sensei."_

Oh no. He was too tired to notice that his thoughts weren’t private like it used to be.

 _“Oh, wow, Naruto,”_ Sakura shot back, though there was no bite in her voice. _“Don’t be so sassy.”_

_“I’m stating the truth, sis.”_

_“Ah, back in the olden days when I used to be so childish.”_

Kakashi winced when Sasuke joined the conversation with a mock howl.

The sadistic brat has been doing that ever since Kyuubi henge-ed into a wolf form. He howled and barked, giving his input in doggy-talk as if Kakashi has somehow transformed into a dog because of his bijuu mode with the Kyuubi. He didn't even know how this happened—didn’t even want to know from where Sasuke learned this irritating playfulness—because Kakashi was honestly preferring the old bloodthirsty Sasuke now rather than this one, and that was not an okay thought.

 _“Woof,”_ Sasuke teased again. _“Awwh, our poor doggy has a crush.”_

 _“God damn it, Sasuke.”_ Naruto groaned, sounding fondly exasperated. _“Do we need to leash you?”_

 _“Nah,”_ Sasuke said, and for some odd reasons, Kakashi could totally imagine the brat's evil grin. _“Kakashi is the one needing a leash. You know, before he jumped the unsuspecting ass of my still-innocent cousin.”_

Kakashi remembered the incredibly sweet and pleasant scent he was drowned in when Obito hugged him and he quickly tried to derail his subconscious thought before his imaginary students got a wind of it—

 _“Whoa, Kaka-sensei!”_ Naruto shouted. _“I do not need to know that!”_

 _“TMI,”_ Sakura crooned. _“But that was cute. You’re really tuned to his scent. So adorable.”_

Kakashi groaned to the pillow.

 _“You’re not even being subtle now, Sakura,”_ Sasuke mused. 

_“Sensei has a crush,”_ Sakura countered. _“What kind of a student I will be if I didn’t support him?”_

 _A REASONABLE ONE._ Kakashi mentally yelled at them.

Obito was currently _fourteen_. Kakashi was doubled that age prior to this time-travel bullshit. He was twenty-eight to Obito's _fourteen_.

This was not okay.

_“You’re in a teen body right now, though.”_

_Sakura, NO._

Kakashi countered weakly.

_“Awooooooooo!”_

_Fuck you too, Sasuke._

Thankfully, before this unholy combo of embarrassing kids could proceed to humiliate him to death, Kyuubi finally decided to butt in and save the day.

**_“If you don’t want to sleep kit, go and meditate.”_ **

Kakashi was up and obliging that suggestion in a heartbeat. He was tired and exhausted, his muscles were aching from the battle last night and his attention was non-existent due to his thoughts going in all direction possible, yet he found it oddly easy to sit in a lotus position, close his eyes and isolated his senses from the surroundings.

He timed his breathing with his own heartbeats, keeping it slow and evenly paced as his body went lax. His sight went first of course, as he closed his eyes first. Then, his hearing went away, fading the bustling noise of changing Ame to pleasant white noise. His sense of touch went away next, before it was finally followed by his sense of smell. His muscles relaxed from its tensed knots, his breathing evened out as he fell into a state of serenity.

The world faded around him, pulling him into a state of silent calmness.

It was when he heard the hushed huff of a now familiar fox that Kakashi finally opened his eyes.

Kyuubi grinned down at him, and Kakashi took a brief moment to admire his surroundings.

It was brighter than the previous plane, something that he wasn't expecting despite having predicted that this will happen when Kyuubi asked him to meditate on his own. He has no idea how the bijuu plane worked—only having his knowledge of it from Naruto’s disconnected conversations with the bijuu back in the Fourth War—though, he had a hunch that Kyuubi would bring him to a more private plane once he meditated.

He needed to get used to this after all. He has to warn all nine of the bijuu of the potentials threat, and Kyuubi wanted him there when all ten of them convene a gathering. Entering the private bijuu plane at will seemed to be a reasonable skill to have.

It didn’t explain the smug, shit-eating grin that Kyuubi was directing at him, though.

“Kurama-sa—”

Kakashi caught himself when Kyuubi narrowed those demonic red eyes at him.

 ** _“Get used to me, kit,”_** the beast said, slowly lowering his body to curl to a relaxed curl. _**“And you’re welcome.”**_

“Wha—?"

Kakashi didn't get to finish his question.

“SENSEI!”

A blur of bright yellow, before his ribs were lovingly crushed in a huge hug.

He fell backwards onto the rippling ground with a familiar weight nuzzling to his chest. The smirking faces that were peering down at him were painfully familiar.

It took a moment for him to register that this wasn't a hallucination.

Kakashi then chortled a laugh, hands coming up to ruffle the blonde spikes nuzzling to his chest, his eyes crinkled as he stared up to meet the smug smirks of his students.

“Miss you too, kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 😉


	15. Reunion and Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who got the spring allergy and decided to spend her time writing? Meeee
> 
> Here's a somewhat a few hours early update. Un-betaed, but probably will be edited later. For now, enjoy!

Two years ago, Naruto could only dream of having a family.

Hated by the village. Neglected by his own godfather. Growing with only the love and support from two different parental figures—the distant grandfather who was so busy ruling Konoha and could only spend little moments with him, and the teacher who is more of a father to him than anyone could ever be. Had to live begging for scraps of love and attention from kind-hearted civilians like old man Ichiraku and Ayame-nee.

It used to be a child’s hopeless dream—to have a family.

Shikamaru was the nicest out of all his academy peers, but Naruto knew that he couldn’t (and wouldn’t) contest Chouji to be Shikamaru’s brother. Chouji owned that special place in Shikamaru’s heart like how Iruka owned the spot of world’s best father in Naruto’s heart.

Out of all of his peers, Sasuke was the only one he could find some branch to relate with.

Then, Team 7 was announced.

And despite all the grumbling and heated rivalry… deep down, Naruto was _happy_.

When he joined Team 7, he had hopes and dreams to form a somewhat working family relationship with his teammates. He paid his most attention to his team. It wasn’t something that he consciously did, but now with literally all the time in the world and nothing else to do, Naruto had time to reflect on his past.

Back then, he had a hopeful wish to gain a friend and a brother in Sasuke. His crush on Sakura grew throughout the few happy months until the Chuunin Exam, fuelling his childhood dream of having a wife that would build a family with him.

Throughout those peaceful months before shit went down, he had hoped to form some sort of bond with his jounin-sensei too.

(Probably not like how Iruka was to him—because no one could ever contest that special spot Iruka owned in his heart—but an older brother didn’t sound so bad. After all, he used to envy seeing Sasuke and Itachi back before the whole massacre went down.)

He wanted Kakashi as a family member too.

It almost seemed impossible back then.

Kakashi was impossible to approach. He gave off the vibes that he hated his genins, only ‘caring’ for them because they were assigned under his care. He didn’t show that he cared, acting more like a soldier obliging the Hokage’s order to train his team rather than being a genuine caring teacher like any other jounin-sensei.

Kakashi was distant, so far out of reach despite literally being by their side throughout their pre-teen’s chaotic years.

It didn’t matter how much Naruto pulled stupid shenanigans to invoke some kind of reaction from Kakashi, nothing ever worked. Heck, even Sasuke showed some reactions back then. The only moments that Sasuke acted like a normal curious kid instead of his usual emo vendetta-driven brat behaviour were when they were out trying to unmask Kakashi.

Despite their shenanigans, Kakashi remained an unreachable enigma to them.

Close, yet so far out of reach.

Things changed when Kyuubi literally trapped Team 7 inside Kakashi’s mind.

No more shields. The distance no longer existed.

Kakashi was laid raw to them. The pain of his well-hidden past, the constant anxiety for the people that he cared about and the fear for his future—each and every single one of the things that Kakashi has tried to hide from them back then were laid out bare to the rest of Team 7.

Kurama might have thought that he fucked up by accidentally causing this whole chaos.

Naruto personally thought of it as a blessing in disguise.

He finally got what he wanted.

It was a little bit sad that he has lost that meaningful father-son relationship he had with Iruka. It was a little bit disheartening when he realised that his Hinata would grow up knowing a completely different Naruto. It was heart-breaking to realise that his parents wouldn’t know him at all, that they would live (oh, they would _live_ , he would make sure of it) raising a completely different child. His chest ached a little bit upon realising that the bonds he built with his comrades during the Fourth War were erased completely the moment they landed in this past.

But those were losses he was willing to swallow if that meant Team 7 has the chance to change the future for everyone.

Iruka has the chance to not grow as an orphan now, considering that Obito is on their side. If they did this right, Neji wouldn’t lose his father too, and knowing that Neji’s resentment towards the main family stemmed from Hizashi’s unfair death, perhaps Hinata would have grown with an older brother to adore. They have the chance to save Minato and Kushina from young death. Itachi has the chance to grow up without having a sealed fate to kill his own clan. They have the chance to stop Shisui’s untimely death. They have the chance to stop Orochimaru from betraying Konoha and killing the Sandaime. They have the chance to change the jinchuuriki's fate, establishing bijuu as a living being with feelings rather than monsters. Gaara wouldn't be born and raised in hatred. Son wouldn't be living with his disdain against Roshi. Saiken and Chomei might still end up as friends with Utakata and Fuu, but they wouldn't be hunted and killed for it.

Ero Sennin wouldn't have died.

Everyone’s future was no longer set in stone.

They could save so many people who didn’t deserve their fate in the first time around.

Naruto may no longer a living human by this point, but he knew that his counterpart would be born into a better world if they did this right.

It was bittersweet to swallow, but after everything that he has gone through, this was a blessing.

Plus, he got the team-bond he has always dreamt of.

How long has it been since they were trapped in this predicament?

Weeks. Yet it felt longer, considering that they couldn’t do anything but watching over Kakashi in here.

Stuck together with literally nothing to do and all the time in the world, Team 7 has the chance to properly bond with each other. They have all the time and opportunities to open up their shells. They have all the time in the world to understand and learn to love each other.

Weeks passed and Sakura’s natural aggression towards him has toned down to a fonder rough-housing that was laced with protective fierceness over him and Sasuke both.

It was odd at first, to look at her and see a sister rather than a crush.

It was even weirder to see Sakura looked at Sasuke and no longer seeing the romantic obsession she used to have.

Sasuke was more open too—oddly playful in his own evil way—but Naruto enjoyed the rough-housing and all the forehead flicking, knowing what it meant for the Uchiha.

Their dynamic changed. The longer they spent trapped in here, the closer they got to each other.

Naruto counted that as a win.

He would never dream of this closeness before.

He would never dream of being engulfed in his reclusive teacher’s arms either.

Thus, Naruto let his eyes fluttered shut, pressing his ear against Kakashi’s chest when the arms that were wrapped around him tightened just slightly.

That trembling hand squeezed his shoulder so tentatively as if fearing that he would disappear into thin air.

Naruto tightened the hug—a silent assurance—and waited until the hammering heartbeats under his ear calmed down.

Kakashi kept one arm around Naruto even as Sakura pulled him up by the other hand.

“Brats," the man said then—one simple word that dripped with unspoken fondness.

In response, Naruto threw his head back and _laughed,_ chortling out a merry light-hearted noise that reflected the soft smile on Kakashi's face. He was still half-snuggled to the much lankier form of his teacher, laughter booming louder across the bijuu plane when Sakura and Sasuke were pulled into the hug too. Sakura giggled as she was squished between Kakashi's arm and Naruto's body, while Sasuke let out a tiny annoyed huff that Naruto was sure was accompanied with a heavy eye roll.

Nuh-uh.

None of that ‘I-am-too-cool-for-physical-assurance’ bullshit again.

Naruto quickly elbowed Sasuke’s ribs. He didn't even try to free himself from the loose hug as he elbowed the asshole because they all needed this so badly, regardless of how much Sasuke tried to play it cool.

Sasuke elbowed him back, _hard._

Ouch.

It was then followed by sharp pinch right at the small of his back before Sakura’s hand reached across Naruto’s back to give Sasuke the same treatment.

Being at the middle between the two, Naruto was conveniently distracted by Sasuke’s attempt to return Sakura's painful pinch to notice that Kakashi’s hands have migrated from squishing them to his chest to rest at the back of Sakura’s and Sasuke’s head.

Neither of them got the time to react.

Kakashi’s fingers fisted in pink and black hair before he slammed their heads together. Hard.

It hurt.

Kakashi showed them no mercy.

It really hurt.

“SENSEI!!!” Naruto and Sakura yelled.

“Kakashi, what the fuck?!” Sasuke’s voice triumphed over their voices.

Kakashi hardly flinched when Naruto sent him a betrayed teary look.

“The three of you deserved that,” instead, their teacher deadpanned. _“Sadistic brats.”_

Sasuke apparently no longer has the sense of self-preservation as he openly snorted, despite still rubbing the side of his head.

Not that Naruto could not understand. Kakashi looked oddly cute and _young_ with those narrowed mismatched eyes, that lanky teenager-build, defensively crossed arms and an _almost_ sulky pout.

Man, was their teacher always so lanky and cute like this?

“Why me, sensei? I didn’t even do anything,” Sakura retorted, sending a scowl to Kakashi’s direction. “Sasuke is the mean one.”

“Oi.”

“Shush, Sasuke,” Sakura whispered. “You’re the eldest. Take the responsibility and be the scapegoat for us.”

“You were born in Yayoi. I was born in Fumizuki,” Sasuke scowled. “What the hell, Sakura.”

“Sssshhh…,” Sakura crooned, placing her index finger over Sasuke’s lips. “I’m younger than you. I'm the middle child between the three of us. Do not question a girl’s age.”

"That's bullshit."

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

The corners of his lips twitched, though.

It was barely a smile, but Kakashi could not bullshit anyone in this mindscape. Not when they could feel how happy and relieved he was for this reunion.

Naruto grinned, rubbing the last of throbbing pain on his temple away as he bounced back across the rippling floor to pull Kakashi into a huge hug again.

It spoke volumes when Kakashi’s body immediately went lax the moment Naruto engulfed him in a hug. The man practically _melted_ in Naruto’s arms. The tension in his form loosened up almost immediately, his warm breath was exhaled in a shaky sigh while his head felt heavy on top of Naruto’s head.

It made Naruto wondered—when was the last time someone has truly hugged Kakashi?

When was the last time he allowed himself to indulge in this kind of human contact?

When was the last time he truly loosened up in someone else’s embrace?

Kakashi tentatively reached up to return the hug, though once his arms wrapped around Naruto's body, he clung to Naruto so fiercely, as if he feared that someone will snatch this human contact away from him.

When was the last time Kakashi hugged someone and that person didn't vanish from his life?

Somehow, Naruto didn’t want to know the answers.

* * *

It felt surreal.

It felt so surreal to know that the voices in his head weren’t a hallucination of his unhealthy coping mechanism.

It felt so surreal to have his students around him after months being convinced that he has lost them for real.

Naruto was practically acting like a spoiled pup right now—far, far affectionate than he ever was—but Kakashi wasn’t complaining. No, he felt comforted to feel Naruto’s warmth beside him. He felt comforted being at the centre of this warmth. It was a blissful comfort to feel Kurama's fur cushioning his back as he was squished between Sakura and Naruto with Sasuke sitting next to her.

Sakura was chattering her way like the good old times, updating Kakashi on what they have been up to while he was living his life causing chaos out of this mindscape.

Though, the thing that surprised him the most was Sasuke.

It was both creepy and adorable to see Sasuke being so comfortable squished between Kurama’s elbow and Sakura’s body.

It was nerve-wracking to see Sasuke so calm and relaxed, with only a slight smirk on his face and a fond look in his eyes that he directed towards Sakura and Naruto.

_Who is this person and what happened to the old Sasuke?_

“And like, what the fuck, sensei?” Sakura’s chatter finally registered to his dazed mind, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at her, confused.

“Don’t give me that look,” Sakura scowled. “I know that you’re curious too,” she added, rolling her eyes. “Like, you’re so obviously attracted to Obito. You also want to know how in the fucking hell he has a god damn womb and a dick—"

Oh, god.

Oh, hell no.

Not this. God, please no.

“Sakura—”

“No, sensei, listen,” Sakura shushed him in a perfect resemblance to the legendary Senju Tsunade. “You want him. Don’t deny that," she hushed Kakashi again before he could even retort. "We’re in your head. We know how bad you want to jump that adorable ass. Also, you’re so obviously curious.”

Naruto groaned and facepalmed.

Sasuke looked like he was too amused for his own good.

Kakashi dreaded her next words.

“So why didn’t you just strip him and get it over with? I need to know, sensei," Sakura huffed, giving Kakashi the dirty look. "Like, how does it look like down there? Does he have both a dick and a vagina? What is going on below his belt? He menstruates, so the blood surely came out of _somewhere,_ " she frowned, stubbornly returning Kakashi's disbelieving stare with a persistent glare. "I. NEED. TO. KNOW.”

Kakashi groaned and buried his face in his palms, feeling the heat rising up to his cheeks.

_God, why?_

“And here I thought Naruto is the one who trained under the guidance of a literal pervert,” Sasuke mused. " Sakura, I didn't expect this from you."

Naruto let out a tiny noise of agreement.

“IT’S FOR _SCIENCE.”_

Sasuke rolled his eyes. " _Perv,"_ he cajoled.

 _"Science,"_ Sakura insisted.

"Perv."

That did it.

Sakura curled her lips, growled and lunged at him.

Kakashi didn’t know how to react when Sasuke responded to Sakura’s attack, as they both were now wrestling with one another like how misbehaving healthy puppies would.

It was so surreal.

Naruto, on the other hand, very discreetly turned towards Kurama, buried his face into the red fur and whimpered out of pure embarrassment.

Unfortunately, that was when it hit Kakashi.

His students could see through his eyes.

His students could see through _his_ eyes.

“You can see what I see,” he breathed out, cheeks flushing deeper as the realisation sank in.

Sakura halted, one hand was trapped in Sasuke’s defensive grip while the other was ruthlessly pulling Sasuke’s cheek as she turned around to shoot Kakashi a baffled gaze.

“Um, yeah?”

Kurama groaned, burying his head under his paws.

 ** _“Otou-sama, please let me die,”_** the bijuu grumbled.

“I will fight old man Rikudou if he tried to grant that wish of yours, Kurama,” Naruto responded almost instantly.

Kakashi was too distracted with the horrifying realisation to respond to their interaction, though.

“YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING THAT I SEE?”

Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes in eerie solidarity.

“Duh,” they said.

This time, the heat that rose to his cheeks felt blindingly hot.

“You have seen me naked,” Kakashi breathed out, dazed and light-headed from all the heat that was rushing to his cheeks. “Oh my god. You have seen me naked.”

Kakashi so desperately wanted to bury himself seven feet underground, especially when Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a leery gaze and shot him a taunting grin.

This can’t be real.

However, before the heat could combust Kakashi in pure embarrassment, Naruto leapt towards his tangled teammates and knocked their heads with his fists.

“Naruto!” Sakura started.

“What the hell was that for?!” Sasuke ended.

The soft crunch of their heads meeting Naruto's fists was too satisfying for Kakashi to be concerned.

"No,” the blonde said firmly, sending a warning glare to the scowling duo before sending Kakashi an apologetic look. “We didn’t see _everything.”_

“Oh no, we totally did—”

Naruto lightly yanked pink hair to silence that retort.

“We totally see _everything—_ ouch, NARUTO!!”

“We did not,” Naruto assured firmly. “They’re messing with you, sensei.”

It was way too surreal to look at his students and see that _Naruto_ was the one being responsible and mature among the three of them.

_What the hell is even happening?_

This was so surreal.

Sakura was half-sprawled over Sasuke’s stomach, one hand still trapping Sasuke’s cheek in a painful grip while her other hand was rubbing the spot of her head where Naruto just yanked her hair seconds ago. Sasuke was lying beneath Sakura with one of his hands loosely wrapping Sakura’s wrist while the other was rubbing the bump on his head. Looming over both of them was Naruto, with his lips twisted to a scowl and hands on his hips, looking all like an exasperated dad as he glared down to his teammates.

This was so surreal.

“Kitsune’s a prude,” Sasuke grumbled.

 ** _“I’m reasonable, you sadistic children,”_** Kurama growled, still burying his head under his paws. **_"Give the poor man some privacy."_**

Kakashi decided that Kurama no Kitsune was his favourite entity ever.

Not surprisingly, the evil duo from hell pointedly ignored Kurama.

“Kurama's prude and Naruto has lost his sense of humour,” Sakura lamented.

Naruto fondly rolled his eyes.

“You two are assholes,” he retorted.

Kakashi almost didn’t believe his eyes when Sakura and Sasuke only laughed at that retort.

Things got even more unbelievable when the evil duo pulled Naruto down into a messy, tangled hug.

When will people around him stop giving him heart attacks? He can't deal with this every day. His poor heart wouldn't be able to stand it.

“You still love us despite that,” Sakura giggled, sounding like she was oblivious to Kakashi's mental breakdown as she buried her face into spiky blonde hair.

Sasuke didn’t say anything, but Kakashi saw the way his fingers tightened just briefly on the fabrics of Naruto’s shirt.

Needless to say, Kakashi was dumbfounded as he watched the scene unfold.

What the hell has happened to his students these past months?

It would’ve freaked him out and made him wonder if this was yet another illusion of his deranged fucked up mind, but Naruto has looked up at him with that trademark boyish grin everyone has come to trust and love.

And just like that, Kakashi felt something within him snapped loose, elevating the tension in his muscles and the heavy feeling that he didn’t realise was grounding him down.

It was like a breath of fresh air after being suffocated for so long. It was like the taste of water after being stranded and lost in Suna's territory for a long period of time. It felt like the fullness of one's belly after getting a good meal. It felt like seeing the lights after wandering for so long in the dark.

It felt…good.

Kakashi didn’t resist when three different hands reached up to pull him into that warm pile.

He definitely could live with this.

* * *

“The foreign ones are always so pretty, huh?”

Zabuza definitely didn’t shriek.

He definitely didn’t.

It was just a very dignified high-pitched noise of surprise that slipped out of his lips. It wasn’t a shriek.

He schooled his face to a flat unimpressed expression as he turned around, sending Kisame an equally unimpressed glare. It didn’t affect that bastard though, as Kisame simply grinned down at him with that taunting knowing look.

“Not a lot of new faces here,” so he retorted instead, returning his attention back to the object of his observation. “We didn’t allow anyone in often.”

Kisame’s teasing grin sobered up to a serious frown as he took the empty perch beside Zabuza, gazing across the street to where the newcomer was sitting. It was indeed a bizarre sight to witness in Kiri. The foreign boy and his elder brother stood like a sore thumb among the citizens of Kirigakure. They were pristine pale to the mud-streaked tanned skin of Kiri's natives. Their build was lean and slender, something that oddly reminded Zabuza of the reclusive leopards that roamed the snowy mountains near their borders. The younger of the newcomer brothers was so tiny and slender, yet even from this distance, Zabuza could see that the tiny boy was packed with prominent muscles on his arms.

It was weird to see someone so tiny has prominent muscles like that.

Their build is so unlike the massive bulky built of a good half of Kirigakure’s population or the petite skinny physique of the other half of Kiri’s citizen. The elder brother seemed skinnier and not as well-built as the tinier one, so Zabuza has assumed that the little one has more training than his elder brother.

It was both weird and adorable to see the elder between the two newcomers relied so hard on the younger to navigate the city.

Zabuza has been stalking them ever since they walked in Kiri’s gates escorted by the Mizukage himself. The older brother couldn’t do _anything_ without the aid of the tinier one. It was endearing and so pitiful, and Zabuza couldn’t help but feel intrigued. The brothers looked so helpless it was impossible to not tail them around to make sure that they did not get into trouble or accidentally picked up fights with the wrong crowd in Kiri.

“I heard that their mother will be appointed as one of Yagura-sama’s war advisor soon,” Kisame murmured, voice losing the playfulness he had before. “Something like she had valuable networks of information and those kids lose their dad because of Konoha,” he snorted, before adding absentmindedly; “The lady is so driven with vengeance against Konoha and our higher-ups are _living_ for it.”

That had Zabuza to turn in Kisame’s direction with a confused frown.

“How the hell are you able to listen in this information without getting caught?" He questioned, because a freshly promoted jounin like Kisame should not have access to this kind of ANBU-level information. “They literally arrived two days ago.”

Kisame shouldn’t be sharing this with a freshly promoted chuunin like Zabuza too.

Zabuza didn’t think he wanted to know the answer when Kisame gave him that mischievous shit-eating grin.

“Taichou has no filter when he is dead-ass drunk,” the shark-like boy grinned, ruffling Zabuza’s hair when the younger boy gaped at him. “Let’s go!” he said suddenly, pearly sharp teeth flashed as his grin grew wider.

“Go where?” Zabuza floundered, taken aback when he was suddenly yanked by the collar of his shirt down onto the muddy street. “Kisame!”

A burst of sunshin and _—_

“Oh, hello.”

Oh, shit.

“Hey there! I’m Kisame,” Kisame bellowed, and the grip on Zabuza’s collar was released a second before he heard a loud thump of Kisame’s hand meeting someone’s back. “Welcome to Kiri!”

It took an effort to not whistle when the tiny boy took Kisame's enthusiastic back-pat without even flinching.

“Hello,” the boy repeated, mismatched brown and white eyes crinkled to match his pleasant smile. “Sukea,” he said first, offering up his hand towards Zabuza. “That’s my big brother, Shiro.”

Shiro gave them a toothy grin before returning his attention to the scrunched-up papers and pencil colours surrounding him.

Zabuza exchanged a look with Kisame and pointedly avoiding from staring at the weird behaviour.

Clearly retarded, that one.

“Zabuza,” Zabuza responded, a bit hesitant _— _because_ for the love of Suijin-sama, he is so tiny what if I accidentally hurt him?_—but then he realised that his first impression was completely wrong the moment their hands touched.

Rough callouses spread across that tiny itsy-bitsy hand, telling more than what that has been spoken. This was not the hand of novice shinobi nor was it the hand of an average civilian. This was the hand of an experienced swordsman. This was the hand of a hard-working shinobi. This was the hand of someone that has been practising with swords and handling weapons for most of their life.

It wasn’t something that Zabuza has expected from his initial impression of the tinier boy.

"You practised swords?" he blurted out of sheer reflex, barely able to hide the enthusiasm in his voice.

The corners of Kisame’s lips twitched, beady grey eyes lit up in amusement.

Zabuza swore that he would behead the asshole if he dared to make a comment—

Kisame didn't have the chance to start teasing.

That tiny hand suddenly reached out without warning, moving faster than anyone could blink—

"—!!”

The next thing Zabuza knew, he was pulled down into an uncomfortable crouch with a small hand curving around his throat. The grip was not exactly trapping him there, but the slight squeeze made him froze and submitted, panic spiking up his spine because that mouth was too close to his throat for comfort. The smaller boy let out a warning growl when Zabuza tried to squirm free. He tightened his grip just slightly as a silent warning, before pressing his nose against Zabuza’s exposed neck and inhaled deeply.

That warm exhale of breath fanned over his skin and Zabuza instantly shivered, body tensing up even more when he realised that this tiny boy could easily become a threat if he wasn’t careful.

Zabuza had to wonder why the heck Kisame didn’t do anything to stop this.

“Huh,” Sukea huffed, _finally_ backing away a step to sniff the air. “That’s weird.”

Zabuza decided that Sukea must be one of those sensory type shinobi because the smaller boy sniffed the air again as if he was making sure of something. His frown grew deeper as he did so before he once again buried his nose to Zabuza’s neck and inhaled.

Zabuza was one second away from cracking Sukea’s skull open when the boy finally retreated to an acceptable distance.

“What the fuck is that all about?” he scowled, still so shaken at the ghost of that warm breath on his neck.

“Why do you hide your scent with blood?” Sukea asked, mismatched eyes looked up to meet Zabuza’s bewildered gaze with unveiled curiousity. “Is it a Kiri thing?” he added, pausing a moment before he shook his head. “It can’t be a Kiri thing. No one else smelled so strongly of blood like you.”

Kisame snorted.

“What…?” Zabuza breathed out, genuinely confused.

That’s it. He honestly couldn’t process how this conversation ended up like this when he has been fully expecting something else after Sukea pulled that domineering stunt.

“From here, your whole presence smelled like pure blood,” Sukea said, nose crinkling as he pointed to the ground where he stood, before he suddenly pulled Zabuza down again and leant on his tip-toes to inhale on his neck. “But at this distance, you actually smelled nice and pleasant,” he added, lips far too close to Zabuza’s throat for comfort.

Zabuza was grateful he has opted to start wearing bandages around the lower half of his face because he was sure as hell that there was no escaping Kisame if the shark-boy noticed that Zabuza was blushing and gaping at the same time.

This didn’t go as he expected at all.

Sukea didn’t seem like he noticed the effects he had on Zabuza from that little stunt.

“So, why?” Sukea asked again, gazing up curiously. “Is it a camouflage thing? To deter enemies with the scent of blood? Did it work? Aren’t people going to get even more curious when they smelled blood? Is this a new tactic you’re currently experimenting on? Is it for deterrence or baiting? I can assure you that this wouldn’t work to deter the Inuzuka unless if you want to bait them into a trap. They would go _towards_ the smell of blood rather than away from it.”

Boy, the little lungs sure could pack some breaths considering this train of questions Sukea just bombarded him with.

Somewhere in the background, Kisame actually started snickering—the horrible friend he was.

Zabuza needed a better friend, really.

“I don’t smell like blood,” Zabuza retorted, a bit irked now. “The hell is wrong with you?!”

Sukea’s nose twitched—and Suijin-sama forbade someone so socially inadept shouldn’t look _that_ adorable—and the smaller boy shot Zabuza an unimpressed frown.

“You do,” Sukea insisted. “I can pick up the scent of blood from at least 100 different people on you. You’re _soaked_ in it.”

Kisame stopped snickering, expression turning serious in a split second.

On the other hand, Zabuza felt his blood ran cold.

There was truth in those words—a truth that he wasn't ready to face yet.

So, Zabuza turned around and bolted.

He knew that he couldn’t run away from the blood though.

* * *

Rin was almost positive that she had died and has woken up in heavens.

What else could explain this?

What else could explain the warm weight of Obito’s head resting by her pillow?

Except that she could feel his warm breath fanning over her shoulder even through the fabric of her shirt. She could feel the warmth of his hand, the weight of his arm over her own, the callous of his fingers tangled with hers.

The warm peaceful fuzz of his contented dream in her head—it felt so real.

 _He_ felt so _real._

Rin was tearing up before she could even think of sitting up and held Obito close in her arms.

“Obito…?” She murmured, reaching out her free hand to cup his face.

His eyes fluttered open—groggy but _alive—_ and Rin felt her lips trembled in raw relief when he quirked a lazy sleepy smile at her.

"Morning, Rin."

The relieved grateful noise that tore out of her throat was broken and pathetic, but she knew that Obito didn’t judge her for it. He would’ve in any other occasions—a harmless jibe to counter her persistent teasing on him—but she knew that he wouldn’t tease her for being a crybaby this time.

“I’m here,” he murmured instead, pulling her in straight into the secure warmth of his arms. “I’m here,” he repeated, rocking her trembling body, wiping her tears with his hands before resting their foreheads together. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Rin burst to loud sobbing.

“We thought you _died_ ,” she whimpered, running her shaky hands up and down his arms, taking note on the bulky support wrapping his right shoulder, hiccupping when she noticed the crutches that were leaning against his thigh. “We thought you’re really _gone_.”

_He survived._

_Thank God, he survived._

“It will take more than that to kill me,” Obito grinned, blinking furiously in that too familiar manner. “Cockroach, remember?”

Rin snorted, throat raw even as she tried to laugh. “One time, Obito,” she sighed, sounding exasperated yet her arms were pulling him close, keeping him tucked in her arms. “It was only that one time our experiment failed. It’s just that one time. Let it go.”

“Nah,” he shrugged, grin growing brighter as he rested his head against her collarbone. “Still holding it against you. You’re stuck with me forever even if I accidentally transformed myself to a cockroach for the sake of your curiousity.”

“Don’t make me swat you with a newspaper,” Rin threatened teasingly.

“Will you give me a proper burial if I went splat by a newspaper roll?” Obito returned, equally teasing.

It had a different effect on Rin, though.

Flashes of memories ran through her mind, reminding her of that moment Obito literally went splat under that rock in that cave and Rin’s breathing promptly escalated, quickening to the state of hyperventilating.

No. No. No.

_I wouldn't let you die again._

“Hey,” Obito said upon noting the change in her breathing, squeezing her hand tightly in his own as he wriggled up from his resting place on her collarbone to her shoulder so that he could bury his nose at the crook of her neck. “I’m here,” he assured, inhaling deeply on her neck. “I’m alive,” he added in a soft exhale, wrapping her in the sense of comfort and security. “We’re safe.”

Rin never understood how Obito did this, but she needed this now.

She needed this assurance before things went chaos once again.

Obito was so calm and composed after all. It didn’t take a genius to guess that no one has thrown the exploding kunai in his direction yet.

“By the way, did Bakashi ditch you and block us?”

There it was. The explosive tag. The exploding seal. The destructive katon.

“Did you two had a fight after Kannabi?"

Rin squeezed her eyes shut.

There it was.

The painful truth.

She gathered whatever strength left in her sore body and scooted up, wriggling and struggling to get into a sitting position without removing the skin contact she had with Obito. She kept her hands tangled with his, kept him secure in her arms but pointedly avoiding meeting his confused gaze and baffled smile.

God, was she the one that has to erase that happiness from his face?

She thought of the emptiness in her head, the gap in their supposedly three-way link and the fact that this disaster started because she got abducted by Kirigakure.

Yes, she was the one that has the responsibilities to erase that happiness from his face.

“Rin? What is going on? Did he really block us? Why can’t I sense him at all?”

“Obito.”

Obito must have sensed that something was wrong because he immediately fell silent. The happiness faded from his face and was replaced with horrified confusion. Rin flinched when he started probing her thoughts but steeled her nerves when he broke through her already weak mental defence to seek for the truth that everyone has been hiding from him.

She didn’t have the heart to stop him.

So, she held his hands in her grip, letting her tears fell freely to the blankets as he probed at the memory that she had locked tight. He didn’t push at first, waiting impatiently for her to share that memory with him, but as his anxiety spiked, her defence went weaker with resignation.

He broke through, seeing the memory through her eyes.

Rin kept Obito grounded when the mental gates opened. She kept him secure in her arms as they both relived the day she woke up with deafening silence in her head. She rocked his trembling body as they reached the graveyard. She muted her own emotions when they saw the burnt remains and blood pool of what was supposed to be their youngest brother, knowing that the emotions she had in that memory were too painful to relive and they didn't need any addition to that.

She held him closer as she felt his own despair and grief mingled with hers.

“He’s… _dead_?”

Obito’s broken voice felt resoundingly loud in the small room. Rin could feel his body slackened, boneless like a marionette with its strings cut off. His presence in her mind felt cold and numb, missing the warmth and excitement he had when she first woke up.

Then, she felt something shifted within his soul—a little thrum through their link that told her something was off—and she immediately looked up to meet his gaze.

She wished she hadn’t done that.

Obito was staring past her shoulders at the wall—an empty soulless gaze—as his sharingan spun through tear-glazed sheen. The three tomoe spun behind the wet glaze, merging for each rotation to form a pattern she knew was both coveted and hated by the Uchiha.

To activate the Mangekyou, an Uchiha has to feel deep emotional grief. Rin has been around the Uchiha long enough to know that.

Legends told the stories of how Indra murdered his own trusted followers to activate his Mangekyou. Legends told the stories of how Uchiha Madara gained his Mangekyou when his little brother nearly died at the hands of the Nidaime. Legends told the way Uchiha Naka activated his Mangekyou by sacrificing his close friend. Legends told the way Uchiha Naori gained her Mangekyou after witnessing her lover’s death.

Rin knew that the grief an Uchiha had to suffer to activate the legendary Mangekyou would be equal to the grief that would make common men descend into madness.

Obito activated his Mangekyou. 

Rin knew that he was vulnerable to the grief too.

So she held him closer, wanting to assure him that he wasn’t alone to deal with this grief—to assure that she will be there to support him, that they were in this _together_.

“Kakashi is dead,” Obito murmured, trembling in her tight embrace. “The arrogant brat is dead.”

Rin stared, frozen in a mix of terror and shock when Obito suddenly threw his head back and _laughed_.

It was a mad, unhinged laugh.

Though, before she could even comfort him, the ground rocked beneath them. It was close to an earthquake, but the movement was more purposeful, as if something was trying to come out from the depth of the undergrounds. Rin immediately pulled Obito closer into her embrace—barely noticing the whites that bloomed out of literal nothing, barely noticing the soft petals that bloomed and carpeted the floor, barely noticing the vines that grew down the walls—as she was so determined to fling both of them onto the ground just in case if this place collapsed.

Regardless of the dangerous earthquake, Obito kept on laughing that unhinged melody of grief.

Then, he suddenly stopped with a soft hiccup.

Obito met her gaze and there was only grief in his tears-glazed eyes.

“He always got the short end, huh?” he giggled. “Bakashi!” he screamed to the trembling roof, giggling uncontrollably. "You died first, you arrogant brat!"

Then, Obito once again stopped laughing.

“You’re not supposed to die like this.”

It was a soft murmur. Raw and broken and so genuinely hurt.

“You’re not supposed to die like this.”

It was an inaudible whisper. Empty and soulless.

And just like that, Obito vanished from Rin’s arms, swirling into an unknown vortex that spirited him away.

Rin grasped desperately to the empty air, fumbling and stumbling on her shaky legs to try catching his disappearing form but it was a futile effort.

Obito was gone. Kakashi’s dead.

And she was left here, alone to relive her grief once again.

Rin bowed her head, hands clutching the fabric of her shirt as if it was enough to keep her breaking heart together as she wept and grieved, letting her tears dripped onto the carpet of white chrysanthemums beneath her feet.

Outside, right at the heart of Amegakure, a memorial has grown, shedding silver petals that spread all over the changing Ame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things to note:
> 
> 1\. Smol Kakashi has no idea that his move is socially unacceptable when done to someone that he has no intention to flirt with. He is too young to understand that and did it because of the overwhelming blood scent. He totally didn't realise that he is practically scenting Zabuza. Ah, the bliss of pre-puberty ignorance.  
> P/s: Kisame would have a field day of teasing Zabuza if the conversation ended with a lighter note. Give the baby a few years, Zabuza...and things will be so _different_.
> 
> 2\. I have this headcanon that Kisame and Zabuza would have tiny pieces of childhood innocence before Yagura went crazy in canon. Here, that headcanon is amplified because unlike in canon, Yagura and practically every commanders/jounin in Kiri cared about their young. Maternal country, remember? They care. The Bloodmist Kiri nickname came from a different reason entirely. They do not have the bloody graduation exam because I'm strongly against mass child-killing.
> 
> 3\. I have minimal information of Kiri's backstory from canon to be the base of this story. So everything is heavily Canon-divergence now (it has been for a long time, lol who the fuck am I fooling?). Really, Zabuza is initially to appear in the epilogue and now he suddenly has grown an important role to the plot. This story is writing itself and I'm a slave to the characters.
> 
> 4\. Yayoi is the old Japanese name for March, while Fumizuki is for July. Google said it, so take it with a grain of salt. Btw, apparently Suijin is the name of water god in Japanese folklore, so I made it as the main god believed by Kiri's natives.
> 
> 5\. Y'all know that MadaTobi is one of my biggest ship, right?
> 
> 6\. Who got a deja vu when Obito lost it?


	16. Layers of grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the tag is 'Slow Burn' btw.

* * *

For a while, the world was red.

And for a brief second, Obito felt _anger_.

He felt anger against his clansmen, for cornering Kakashi into that position. He felt anger towards Fugaku, for being unable to reign their own clansmen from cornering an eleven-year-old kid. He felt anger towards Rin for letting Kakashi out of her sight.

He felt anger towards Minato for _failing._

But most of all, the anger was towards his own self.

Because Kakashi wouldn’t have died if he _survived_.

Kakashi wouldn’t have died if the three of them returned from Kannabi _together_.

Lost and alone in this void of darkness, Obito crumpled to his knees and wept for a lost brother.

Around him, the red bloomed to life.

* * *

Setsuna woke to the assumption that he was going to die. 

Not the best wake-up call of his life, if he may say so.

The Earth trembled beneath him, rocking and groaning like an ancient beast being rudely woken up from an eternal sleep. It started with little trembles that jolted him awake at first, before it escalated to a wrathful tremor that snapped his mind to full attention. Such an unfamiliar phenomenon was the thing that made him forced himself to focus, ignoring the dull throbbing on his temples as he tried to gain his bearing and made sense of his current situation.

It took him a few minutes of disorientation later before the panicked screams and chaos just outside the grimy walls of his chamber managed to snap his sluggish mind into full attention.

Civilians, no doubt, because no shinobi worth their salt would fall into hysteria like that. They were trained to remain calm in the worst situation possible—an unexpected, world-shattering earthquake included.

Setsuna was a shinobi first and foremost.

Therefore, injuries and confusion of waking up to such disaster be damned, he kept a calm head on his neck and staggered out of the dusty bed. His head hurt like hell and he could _feel_ his optic nerves throbbed in rhythmic pulse of pain, making it difficult to open his eyes. He has to squint instead, and even _that_ was testing his pain tolerance. But he soldiered on, carefully sliding the door open, only to retreat back into the room when the stampede of panicked civilians almost stomped him flat.

It was madness.

Everyone was rushing down the narrow hallway, hardly caring who they trampled over in their hasty run towards the exit. The roof creaked and Setsuna instantly looked up, grimacing at the pain behind his eyeballs the moment his sharingan activating on reflex to capture the details.

Old. This building was way too old and battered, if the small cracks he saw on the structure was any indicator. It was overpopulated too, judging from the continuous stream of panicked civilians that was rushing towards the exit.

If this earthquake didn’t stop, this whole place would collapse.

The creaking of the wooden structure grew louder, yet civilians kept pouring out from the building, competing against the trembling Earth and the shaking structure in their race to safety. Another loud rumble rocked the ground just when the last group of civilians passed him, the Earth groaned, and the ground suddenly cracked open, swallowing the corridor in front of him into a chasm.

One little girl failed to leap into safety, slipping along with the collapsing corridor with a muted scream.

Setsuna moved before he could think.

He threw himself into the air, capturing the girl into his arms just in time before she was crushed by a falling beam.

Holding the shaking child in one arm, he grasped whatever that he could with his free hand, taking hold of a broken beam before they could plummet into the chasm. His chakra control was a pure mess. Opening his eyes beyond the little squint only amplified his headache and the pain behind his eyeballs.

He has no choice but to fully rely on his arm strength and the sheer stubbornness in his blood to keep them both alive.

“Uchiha!”

It should have bothered him that a stranger knew that he was an Uchiha in this unfamiliar environment, especially when he was injured and vulnerable to be slaughtered for his eyes.

But his limited vision saw the way massive tendrils grew all over the broken building—merciless and unforgiving in their wrathful invasion. No matter how he tried to squint at it, the mokuton seemed _angry_ —crushing roofs and walls to make way for looming trees, weaving through the cracks on the buildings while sprouting flowers everywhere.

White chrysanthemums and red spider lilies; both were the flowers of grief and death that usually don’t grow like this.

(As if the situation wasn’t already ominous)

Regardless, the thought of his own vulnerability immediately went at the back of his mind.

The mokuton has gone extinct with the death of the Shodai.

This wasn’t supposed to be possible.

_How? Who?_

Setsuna's grip on the wooden beam slipped, but one of the growing tendrils lurched across the air to curl around his forearm, before it spread to secure hold around him and the girl, keeping them both safe from the fall.

Despite its disastrous appearance, the hold was gentle and secure—almost fiercely protective in a way, like this mokuton refused to let anyone died under its watch.

Despite its wrathful invasion, the chakra that pulsed from the plant felt oddly familiar—soft and warm even with the overwhelming emotions that caressed Setsuna’s own chakra

_Grief._

There were no malice or aggression from this supposedly extinct mokuton. Only pure grief and sadness.

There was a quiet sniffle against his chest, and Setsuna risked a squinty glance to the girl that was still clinging in his arm, surprised to see that she was gripping on the white flowers that sprouted from the tendril wrapped around them, wetting the soft petals with her own tears.

It surprised him even more when he realised that he too, was crying.

The tears were baffling and confusing, as it seemed to resonate with that odd feeling of grief from that pulsing chakra rather than his eyes tearing up from the pain. It caused Setsuna to risk opening his eyes a little bit wider, trying to get a better look of the flowers, examining the soft flowing chakra within the plants with his red-tinted gaze just in case if this was an elaborated genjutsu.

It wasn’t.

The soft chakra didn’t try to invade them like any other genjutsu. Instead, it was just there, pulsing within the flowers, growing with the greens, brushing alongside Setsuna’s own chakra like a lover’s caress, all the while radiating strong emotions of grief and sadness.

He didn’t have the time to ponder on the confusing mokuton as relief suddenly embraced him. He didn’t realise that he desperately needed that relief until his dangling feet met the rising earth pillar and the strain on his body was completely relieved from its burden.

It took him way too long to notice that his breathing was heavy with exhaustion, his cheeks were wet with remnants of tears and that his limbs were trembling. As if to make it even worse, bright spots clouded his vision, forcing him to shut his eyes tight. For a moment, he almost considered that this was caused by the odd mokuton or his sharingan malfunctioning due to his mess of chakra control, but he felt small hands grasped desperately on his shoulders, followed by a frantic young voice screaming right at his ear.

“Mister, don’t die!”

Ouch. Loud. His headache. Ouch.

Another arm curled around his back to support his collapsing body—bigger than the little hands that tried to pull his shoulders—and that was the moment he realised that the bright spots were caused by his own mind drifting in and out of consciousness.

_Fuck._

“Miss, is he gonna die?” the little girl squeaked.

_Rude._

“No, I’m not going to die, brat—"

“He is an Uchiha,” an unfamiliar voice—a woman—interrupted, sounding flatly amused. “One thing you need to know about the Uchiha’s, kiddo, is that they’re like cockroaches. It’s hard to kill them.”

Setsuna scowled, eyes still closed so he couldn’t glare at this lady, but that still didn’t stop him from responding to her offensive commentary. Suddenly, there was a hand placed over his eyes—thrumming with gentle chakra that could only mean _medic—_ and his scowl faded despite his own resistance, shifting to a small gape as the pain dulled to a more tolerable level.

“The hell happened to you, Uchiha?” the woman asked, her warmth inched closer, now he could feel her thigh aligning along his. “Your whole system is a mess.”

Good question.

What the heck had happened that messed with his system like this?

He squeezed his eyes in a miserable attempt of trying to regain his equilibrium and clear his mind so that he could make sense of what had happened to him. Backtracking into his own memories was a painful chore, because the adrenaline has faded, and his mind immediately fell back to the sluggish state it was when he woke earlier.

_Think._

_What happened?_

He remembered being interrogated. Remembered Danzou and ROOT. Dying in a prison cell. Wait, the prison—

_Namikaze._

_Fuck._

He survived the mercy pill?

He _owed_ his life to _Namikaze Minato_?

Setsuna could feel the scowl forming on his face again, despite his pounding headache and sluggish mind. He still has his eyes closed though, because opening it proven to be a horrible idea earlier.

“I survived mercy pill,” he gritted out, just out of politeness for this lady who was easing up his pain.

He wasn’t raised as a savage asshole damn it, no matter how much Konoha was acting like one.

"Your own village tries to silence you too, huh?" she mused absent-mindedly. "We should make a club."

Setsuna noticed her words and wondered from which village she was from. If she was a fellow Konoha shinobi, then his former village was truly fucked up. What kind of village tried to silence their own loyal soldiers like this?

“Judging from that frown, I’m assuming that you aren’t going to collapse?”

It was by the grace of his years of training that he didn’t jerk at the new voice right behind him and ended up embarrassing his name as a shinobi. His surprise didn’t go unnoticed by the other lady though, as he could hear her amused huff and silent snickers through the faint fluttering sound that almost resembled the sound of butterfly’s wings fluttering.

“Konan-san,” the medic greeted.

“Mari-san. Uchiha-san,” Konan greeted back, equally pleasant. “Glad to see you two in one piece.”

Setsuna scowled.

“The first two Uchiha I’ve ever met,” Konan lamented, her hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing soothingly when he automatically tensed up. “And you two are the epitome of stubbornness.”

Obviously, the scowl had to get deeper.

“Aren’t you a bit too cheerful for the situation we’re in, lady?” he gritted back, risking opening his eyes to glare at Konan.

The woman that came into his view was smiling. It was sad and melancholic kind of smile, but there was a form of gratitude behind that tilted lips.

“Ame is a nation of blood and suffering,” Konan started, beckoning the little girl on Setsuna’s lap into her arms. “We’re worse than our sister nation, in fact,” she huffed a dry laugh, but quickly quirked a pleasant smile when the girl looked up at her. “At least in Kiri, the Mizukage actually cares about his people. Hanzou hardly cared for anyone that couldn’t serve his ambition.”

Setsuna opened his mouth to protest, because he knew what had happened to Rin, has faced Kiri in warzone before and those monsters were vicious and thirsty for blood. The nickname Bloodmist Kiri was a thing for a good damn reason.

"I said, in Kiri," Konan countered his argument before he could even voice it out. "They're not kind to their enemies but if they consider you one of theirs? Those viciousness and bloodlust are the strongest sword and shield you can ever have," she cradled the child in her arms and waved for the fluttering butterflies to help Setsuna got onto his feet with a flick of her hands. "Whoever it was who is behind this catastrophe, they have done Ame a great service."

Setsuna wondered if insanity was a part of shinobi life and he was just late in getting that memo.

“How the hell destroying your nation is considered a ‘great service’?!” he snapped.

_The hell is wrong with these people?_

“But s’not?”

To his surprise, it wasn't the women who answered him.

It was the little girl.

“Huh?”

“Momma is out of this building now,” she said, peeking at him from Konan’s shoulder as they made their way down. “Everyone who stays at this building dies. Now that this building is gone, no one will die again,” she sniffled, quirking a tiny smile at him as she played with the white flowers in her grip. “I’m so happy that the trees are growing in all of the sad places.”

Setsuna blinked, shocked to see a child— _a civilian child—_ so nonchalantly spoke of death like that.

“See?” the little girl kept on chattering, probably happy at being carried and having someone to listen to her. “There! See? Over there?” she exclaimed, pointing at the large peach tree growing from the ruins of a beaten down house, surrounded with healthy berry bushes. “My friend Momo used to live there with her family. She’s gone now, though,” her voice softened before she forced a brighter smile onto her face. “But, s’okay. She always said if the sun ever shines in Ame, she wanted to grow a garden of her own so that we can have fruits and we won’t have to be hungry again. And right there! See that tree? Tanaka died there. He protected us from the scary shinobi man.”

Setsuna gaped, stunned in horrified surprise as the child kept on chattering, pointing out the new landscape and describing the grief the place has suffered.

He would have frozen unmoving there if Mari’s arm wasn’t guiding him forward and Konan’s butterflies weren’t urging him to keep walking.

He never knew that.

He never knew the struggles of a civilian in the warring shinobi world.

Konoha never taught him that.

Konoha’s civilian led a protected life, co-existing in a balanced privilege with the shinobi. They were happy, having the ability to pretend ignorance of the war outside their walls. Their voices were heard in the shinobi world, having equal influence in the Hokage’s council as the Clan Head’s voices. Food was always on their table and their roofs were strong and sturdy, protected by the shinobi's blade and shielded by Konoha's fortress.

Naturally, Setsuna assumed that other shinobi village cared for their civilian the exact same way.

Apparently, he was wrong.

Konan tilted her head back to meet his gaze. Her eyes were knowing, understanding without any grudge, despite Setsuna has been living a privileged life in Konoha while her people suffered at the war that they—the shinobi, the major hidden village—have waged. Her lips slowly moved, giving him the same melancholic smile that spoke more words than what that have been said as she reached out to the spider lilies that grew from the walls.

She plucked the flower, revealing the way the green mokuton within the wall was supporting the whole structure rather than destroying it.

“I heard that in Konoha, this flower is associated with death?”

Setsuna numbly nodded, mouth too dry to speak.

“We couldn’t grow much in Ame with the constant raining, but I remember my mother spoke of this flower,” she hummed, the smile was constant on her face. “She was a refugee from nearby land, so she had the opportunities to watch these grow before the war ruined everything.”

Setsuna stared in bafflement when she added the red flower to the paper flowers on her hair.

This time, Konan quirked a tiny genuine smile.

“Did you know that it is also the symbol of reincarnation?”

Around them, the red basked under the sunlight.

* * *

For minutes that felt like _hours_ , the world was white.

And just like the pure blank petals, Obito felt numb.

He tried to maintain the anger that tinted his vision red, but the fire died down not long after, simmering to nothingness.

Blank, just like the pure white petals.

He couldn’t keep blaming the world.

He couldn’t keep blaming his clansmen, because he knew they did that because they valued his existence. He couldn’t keep blaming Fugaku, because he knew that Fugaku did his best as the Clan Head. He couldn’t keep blaming Rin because her grief was worse than his—having to lose both him and Kakashi in the span of weeks, to the point she did the unthinkable and turning missing-nin for them.

He couldn’t keep blaming Minato too, because Kakashi has always been Minato’s favourite, has always been more than a student—has always been a _son_ to Minato _—_ especially after Sakumo’s death.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

But it was hard to not feel numb. Not after _everything_.

So Obito let his gaze stared up to the eternal darkness, allowing the pure white blanketed his hunched body.

* * *

Sometimes, Kakashi wondered what gods he has pissed off in his past life for him to be punished like this.

Here he was, minding his business, being sufficiently content at the centre of his chaotic pups—content with their new relationship, loving the laughter over teasing jibes of these kids and feeling blessed with the warmth of their love. They were perfectly protected around Kurama’s presence, yet the world has to snatch him awake to the real life that he rather not face yet.

But Kakashi was a shinobi first and foremost.

And he has a mission to accomplish and people to protect.

“What is the current situation?”

The young shinobi squeaked, probably wasn’t expecting to hear such clear authoritarian tone from the embodiment of hope himself. His previous superiors must have not been kind to him too, judging from the way he was shaking as he met Kakashi’s gaze, acting as if he was waiting for a scolding.

Kakashi almost pitied the kid.

Out all of the shinobi of Amegakure, the only ones who were willing to spare a glance towards the struggling civilians were the young ones. The future assassins, as Hanzou has hoped to train them to be, though their heart has not been tainted with the bloodlust yet—still so innocent and have that yearning for a peaceful nation to live in.

While the rest of Hanzou’s followers and former assassin squads have chosen to either defect the nation or fight Akatsuki, the young ones have chosen to revolt _with_ the nation and fight alongside Akatsuki.

It was glorious.

Yet in the end, these were just kids. Most were younger than his pups, as the oldest wasn’t even that much older—barely turning seventeen.

So, Kakashi softened his expression with a stern smile. “Kid?” he prompted. 

“Y-yes, sir!” the boy stuttered, snapping to attention almost belatedly. “Um, the earthquake stopped a few minutes ago but the trees are still growing. They are growing slower now, though. Nagato-sama and Konan-sama are leading the inspection and evacuation, but they need your help to confirm that the trees aren’t malicious.”

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, questioning in silence.

“Um…The people are restless. They want to know if the fruits from the trees are edible or not…,” the boy trailed softer, evading meeting Kakashi’s gaze as he mumbled. “It is difficult to get food here, sir.”

Kakashi cast a glance around the walls of his chamber, wondering how the hell he wasn't jolted to the real world when this thing happened. They said that there was an earthquake. Trees were sprouting everywhere all over Ame like the Mother Nature just decided to fuck with Spring and left her offspring here like the irresponsible mother she was. The sun was shining over blooming red and white, turning the remnants of rain on the petals to sparkly little gems that made a perfect scenery picture every artist craved to paint.

And Kakashi somehow has _meditated_ through it all.

Sending a disbelieving suspicious vibe to his now confirmed-not-an-illusion students were inevitable.

 _“Don’t give us that vibe, Kakashi,”_ Sasuke snapped. _“We didn’t notice it either.”_

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Kakashi activated his sharingan and strode past the boy to the nearest mokuton growth. It was slim little vines that have somehow made itself at home within the walls, sprouting flowers from the crack like it were meant to grow there. Leaning closer to the mokuton now, he motioned for the boy to stay put, not wanting to put his young assistant in any form of danger.

His personal experience with mokuton has never been great after all.

The mokuton that his Obito has used back in the Fourth War was sharp and jagged—a reflection of the broken pieces his old friend has become. The one that the Shodai used was downright terrifying while Madara's was the jagged version of Hashirama’s, single-handedly more ruthless and unforgiving than anything else that Kakashi has ever seen. The one that Zetsu used was just the more ruthless and violently mindless version of Obito’s.

And he still remembered the disaster the Chakra Tree’s mokuton has left on them during the war.

 _Sasuke?_ Kakashi prompted, because even though he had the sharingan for a longer time than Sasuke, his student was a pure Uchiha that knows the sharingan best. _Anything?_

_“None.”_

Kakashi saw no threat either.

Though, just to be safe, he formed a few shadow clones, slapped the now familiar seal to make them durable and instructed them to scatter all over Ame.

“Inspect everything and report your findings to Nagato and Konan,” he instructed them. “Alert me if anything seems off.”

With that settled, Kakashi gave an assuring smile to the stunned boy before he entered Kamui to teleport his way to Rin and Obito. He has no idea from where this mokuton came from and for what purpose, but the way it grew was nothing like Zetsu's, so that was some sort of comfort to his concerns.

He had thought that perhaps this was Tenzou’s doing—a retaliation from Danzou after the loss—but looking at the extent of this mokuton, it was nigh impossible for an eight-years-old Tenzou to do this.

Twenty years from now, yes, Tenzou could cover a whole nation with mokuton, but not now. Not when he was only a child.

Kakashi’s next knee-jerk reaction pointed towards Obito.

It was an illogical leap of thought, of course, considering that mokuton wasn't an Uchiha's kekkei genkai, but they all descended from the same father, right? Just because Indra and Ashura chose to differentiate their blood into clans, it didn't mean that they didn't at least inherit the same blood from the Rikudou-Sennin. Perhaps there was a glitch in the DNA that caused Obito to inherit this specific kekkei genkai, or that the world decided that the lineage of mokuton could not be left for dead with the death of the Shodai.

Either way, Kakashi immediately went to his old teammates first.

The confirmation came as he caught glimpses of white as he was mid-teleporting, causing him to change course and land in Kamui instead of heading to Rin. His feet landed of soft white petals instead of the bleak grey floor, and for a moment, he was stunned with the new landscape of his Kamui.

Oh, wait.

 _Their_ Kamui now.

Obito didn’t even remove his gaze from the eternal darkness above their heads, but Kakashi knew that his presence was acknowledged. The flowers by his feet parted to make a small path towards his friend, and he obliged the silent invitation, taking his seat right next to Obito’s hunched form.

“Do you know?”

No words to signify the subject, but Kakashi _knew._ He knew what Obito was asking for. Obito accessing the Kamui dimension on his own only meant that he activated his Mangekyou and with Rin now safe and recovering? There was only one thing that capable of triggering Obito to activate his Mangekyou.

 _His_ death.

Kakashi let out a sigh but didn't respond—couldn't respond in fact—because how could he put everything into words? He dreaded this day because the grief and loss were the ones that led his Obito—the deranged older one—into the path of a vengeful madness. He still didn't know what had changed in this version of the past, but he has seen enough to notice that Team Minato now was far closer than he ever could dream of.

Deep down, Kakashi feared that history would repeat itself, plunging his friend to the depth of madness once again.

“I do,” he eventually murmured, exhausted and drained.

Kakashi could feel Obito’s gaze on him, so he kept his gaze down, refusing to make any form of eye contact. Tracing his fingers over the soft petals surrounding them, Kakashi tried to distract his mind from the stare that seemed to undress, focusing on the soft chakra pulsing within the flowers instead, as he took the comfort they offered, sharing their grief through the briefest touch of that gentle chakra.

 _“Notice it, sensei,”_ Naruto hummed out of the blue, voice soft yet the edge of triumphal pride was there. _“Notice that?”_

_Notice what?_

There was a quick movement from the boy next to him, and Kakashi reflexively hunched his body, preparing for the incoming punch.

The punch never came.

Obito’s hand fisted in his hair instead, threading through the long tresses until he secured a hold at the back of Kakashi’s neck. Then, he _pulled_.

Obito pulled Kakashi straight into his embrace and suddenly everything made sense.

The reason he didn’t feel so threatened with the appearance of the mokuton that invaded Ame. This mokuton was _different_ from the one his Obito had, all the way down to its core. It wasn't jagged and ruthless as the old Obito's. It wasn't there for the sake of revenge. It wasn't wielded by a madman hell-bent on destroying the world.

Instead, it was there to offer comfort, to give a safe space to grieve yet stood vibrant as a reminder that _life_ was still there.

It wasn’t the same.

“He will be the last.”

It was a promise, nothing more than words from a boy too small for the world, yet Kakashi felt compelled to believe in those words as if it was truth spoken by the heavens.

Around them, the white was a stark contrast against the darkness.

* * *

For years, Obito has associated the colour black with hopelessness.

The colour of the elders’ eyes as they tried to keep him trapped in the compound. The old, fading outlines of the only picture he had of his parents. The colour of the sky the day he woke to the peaceful husk of his grandmother. The mockery in Kakashi’s eyes for each of his failure.

He wasn’t particularly fond of the colour black.

He has forgotten that the colour itself meant vitality and strength—that without the dark, light could not exist.

Without the hopelessness he felt being restricted by the elders, he wouldn’t have cherished the freedom he had with Rin. Without the sadness from the remnants of his deceased family, he wouldn’t have cherished the new family he created. Without the shame from Kakashi’s mockery, he would have stopped working hard a long time ago.

Without the darkness of Kamui, he wouldn’t have noticed the stark silver of Sakuto’s hair and realised what it meant for the older teen now that Kakashi was dead.

Sakuto was the last Hatake now.

Obito wasn’t the only one who has lost a kin.

This grief was not his own alone.

It was Sakuto’s too, for losing his last kin before they could even meet. It was Rin’s because she too lost a brother and has suffered the agony of grieving alone. It was Minato’s too, for losing the one child he has always considered as his own.

It would be insufferably selfish of Obito if he dared to make this all about himself.

So he swallowed the questions he had for the older boy, knowing that there were better place and time for those as he grasped Sakuto’s hand and allowed his newly awakened power brought them back to the world outside.

It was almost too easy and natural to think of _home_ and has his sharingan transported him there.

They landed right in front of Rin, because she was his home now—has always been _home_ for years. She immediately crushed them both in a hug the moment they landed, bawling to tears to his chest while screaming broken threats and pleas for him to never do that again.

How could he leave her to grieve alone?

This grief was theirs.

Thus, Obito held her close, rocking her trembling body until the sobs calmed down.

When Rin was nothing but a clingy trembling Onbaa on his chest, Obito started paying attention to their surroundings.

His gaze wandered around the makeshift camp, seeing the bizarre harmony of plants and buildings of the area. It was like a completely different place as compared to the Ame he has seen earlier. The civilians were basking under the sunlight as they waited for their turn to be tended by the medic. Children were running all over the camp, paper baskets in their hands as they ventured from trees to trees, bushes to bushes, competing as they picked the ripe fruits and berries. Wandering around the camp were the members of Akatsuki, who smiled and exchanged jokes with the civilians as they distributed rations to the rest of the village.

Obito met Nagato’s gaze and saw the unspoken gratitude in his purple eyes.

He returned Konan’s smile and felt the sense of understanding radiating from her gaze.

It was a much better environment than the bleakness yesterday.

Obito looked up to the looming tree at the heart of the camp—seeing Kakashi's eyes in the pitch-black trunk and the resemblance of his stark silver hair within the silver flowers—and felt the grief that struck him this time has come wrapped with a fierce determination. 

_You will be the last._

So Obito tilted his chin up, embracing the power the darkness of his grief has given him as he met Sakuto’s mismatched gaze.

“We’re going to change this hopeless world.”

Silence. But his words were heard—not only by Sakuto, but by everyone in the camp.

The wind blew softly, shedding more of the silver petals that fluttered between the billowing cloak of the Akatsuki.

Under the rare sunlight of Ame, the silver was a stark contrast against the colour of rebellion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My laptop crashed and took the original chapter with it. AutoSave and AutoRecover are not functioning, so this is the one I can salvage from the disaster. Enjoy this while I work on the rest of the chapters and upload it in a few more days (or hours).
> 
> (Yes, this week it will be double-update~!)


	17. Beyond the simmering heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! This one is short because it used to be only one scene (the Kaguya part) and supposed to be in the same chapter as the previous one, but Microsoft Word decided to crash on me and deleted a good half of the chapter. I was so mad that I decided I want to make a double update this week. So I divided the previous chapter into two and added two more scenes into this one. Hope you can still enjoy it even though it is a bit short.
> 
> Schedule update still once per two weeks. This one is a double update just because I'm spiteful against Microsoft Word. lol 
> 
> Un-betaed (and I desperately need sleep)

* * *

So she wasn’t the only one, huh?

It was laughable. An embarrassing moment on her part, because how could she be so foolish to assume that she was the only one being thrown into this dimension?

Foolish. So dreadfully foolish.

But the Hatake boy was foolish too.

She has been considering the Ghost as a pest that she could eliminate later—or perhaps use as a pawn at some point in the future—but things changed when Zetsu came to her with news of the chaos that was happening in Ame. 

From a pest, the Ghost suddenly became an actual threat.

It was such a good thing he decided to be more forward with his identity while subduing the Sanbi. A literal monster brawl between the Sanbi and an unknown gigantic lightning wolf would surely attract everyone's attention.

And wasn't that a foolish move from the pesky child, to reveal his identity like that? 

He would have been better off remaining incognito outside of her radar as an unknown entity rather than flat-out revealing himself as a fellow traveller from the original timeline. The revelation made sense of the entirety of his abilities, as well as giving Kaguya hints of the extent of his powers. He unknowingly laid all of his cards on the table, revealing himself to the enemy he didn't realise he was fighting, while she was still incognito, safe to pull the strings behind her pawns in Kiri.

Foolish little brat.

And it seemed that he was merged with Kyuubi and the troublesome brats too. This would've been bad news if they still possess the power that capable of sealing her but the Hatake boy merged with those brats _without_ inheriting Hagoromo’s power.

Which would mean that Indra and Ashura were automatically no longer a threat to her.

This time, a genuine smile bloomed from her painted lips.

“Is he someone you know, Mother?”

Kaguya cast a brief glance at Zetsu—barely acknowledging him—before shifting her gaze back towards her unconscious puppet, still so impressed at the extent her Kakashi was able to progress her plan as compared to Madara did back during the first time around.

She ignored Zetsu's question, though.

Threading her fingers through sage spiky hair, she reinforced her son’s genjutsu with her own, making it even more difficult to be broken or detected by anyone.

His compassion was the cause of his own downfall, this young one.

Kakashi was right to manipulate the humane part of the Mizukage’s heart. It was laughably easy to get this one under their genjutsu, even with the bodyguards he kept around. Yagura walked straight into their clutch—his own compassion to a fellow mother backfired, as Kakashi was quick to put the Mizukage under his control while Zetsu dealt with the rest of his troops.

They have no use of Yagura’s original bodyguards, so she has easily swapped them with Zetsu clones.

The Mizukage himself, however, was not as easily replaceable.

Kakashi has stopped her when she wanted to replace Yagura with yet another mindless Zetsu, having seen through the man’s memories enough to notice that it would be nigh impossible to fake the bond that Yagura has with the successors of the current seven swordsmen. It would've been easier if they just replaced the Mizukage with a fake, rather than risking a break-able genjutsu, but Kakashi didn't shut up about the bond that Yagura has shared with the future swordsmen. Thus, Kaguya decided to listen, trusting Kakashi to have a better understanding of what he was saying. It was one of the bizarre things of this timeline that she has yet to fathom, but Kakashi was adamant that they would be found out quickly if they replaced Yagura, so mind-controlling the Mizukage was a safer option.

Kakashi has proven his worth as a useful son, unlike Zetsu, who was constantly showing that he was a failure like his counterpart from the first time around. 

The Mizukage was now at her beck and call. The candidates for the new generation of seven swordsmen was slowly falling for her son's lovely charms. Her network of Zetsu has allowed her the liberty of information that earned the trust of the commanders of Kirigakure. There were still some suspicious gazes being directed her way, few from the current swordsmen in fact, but they were slowly warming up to her.

Either way, they managed to infiltrate Kiri.

Now, it’s time to start gathering the bijuu.

“How’s your search for the Gedo statue?” so she asked instead, because that was a much more important matter now.

Zetsu visibly flinched.

The corners of her eyes twitched, just slightly, but it was enough to display her annoyance at Zetsu’s slow progress.

Failure. Failure and utterly useless.

 _“Zetsu._ ”

“I found some clues about the location it was sealed at, Mother,” Zetsu blurted out far too quickly, much like a child fearing a scolding. “But...”

Useless.

“But you still haven't found the exact location,” she said quietly.

Useless.

Why must the manifestation of her counterpart’s will be equally useless as the Zetsu during the first time around?

The Gedo Statue that was in her original body was destroyed when Kyuubi launched the jutsu that created this altered universe, thus she has to resort to the one that was from this world. Hagoromo and Hamura have sealed the statue that used to belong to her counterpart of this universe in her tomb on the moon after they murdered their own mother. It was sealed there until a few decades ago, when it was freed from its bound in the tomb.

In the effort of reviving the chakra tree and continuing her will, Zetsu was able to manipulate the Madara of this universe long enough to unseal that statue and summon it to Earth.

Things backfired when that Madara failed to subdue the Kyuubi.

It didn’t even take long after that failure for Zetsu to be such a disappointment of a son, allowing himself to be betrayed by his own puppet. The statue was stolen right under his nose by the puppet he was supposed to have complete control over; before it was then hidden by the peskiest, most troublesome human being Kaguya has ever had the displeasure of knowing.

Having seen the way that brat's counterpart fought during the Fourth War, she has no doubt that hiding the statue was not even the tip of the iceberg that the troublesome pest has prepared to stop her ambition.

After all, silver-haired brats were always so troublesome when they were not devoted to her.

* * *

Sarutobi had a major headache.

He also had a newfound respect for his deceased sensei—bless his soul, may Tobirama forever rest in peace and has no intention of coming back to yell at him, _please_ —because he remembered the catastrophe that followed after Hashirama’s sudden disappearance and the trails of events that led to the peak of the First Shinobi War.

The era of the Nidaime Hokage was one shaky era that played jump ropes between world war and civil war.

Tobirama has stood against all odds back then. He defied everything as he continued Hashirama’s effort of damage control after the Kyuubi’s attack, which to an extent, almost caused a civil war in Konoha when the fear of the Uchiha being fuelled with Hashirama’s unexpected disappearance. He handled the newly-born unity of the clans in Konoha to the point that the Uchiha was once again trusted by the majority of the village, all the while facing the threats from outside forces. All of that, along with his own contributions towards the logistics and development of Konoha and Tobirama still remained a legend like his elder brother, despite the fact that Sarutobi knew there was a certain period of time between all of that chaos that his sensei was with a _child_.

He hadn't dared to ask back then, because Tobirama was adamant of hiding everything. _That_ choice was probably for a good reason too. There was no better candidate for the Hokage spot apart from him and Izuna, and between the two, Izuna has immediately backed away, knowing that the recent distrust towards the Uchiha and his old injuries would do the village more harm than good considering the heat of the war that was approaching them.

They couldn’t afford a Hokage that was not fully trusted by the village, not when the world was ganging up to start a war. Konoha needed to appear fully united against the world.

Intimidation was a powerful ward to delay the approaching war after all. 

So Tobirama assumed the role of the Hokage, while Izuna remained as the Uchiha Clan Head—both succeeding the spots left by their missing elder brothers.

They still worked together though—scarily coordinated, in fact—those two sworn enemies, tolerating each other as Konoha’s most terrifying leadership combo.

It almost made Sarutobi thought that Izuna was the father.

But did he dare to ask?

Of course not. He was a reckless kid back then, not suicidal.

But now, as the Sandaime Hokage with the world war heating up right outside his gates, one of their jinchuuriki chose to defect and join the Akatsuki—the very same Akatsuki who secured an alliance with the infamous _Ghost_ and then overthrown Hanzou in an overnight revolution in Ame—all the while Sarutobi somehow had this feeling that some of his star jounin have already had their loyalty swayed from Konoha…

(God damn it, Minato. Mikoto. Kushina. Fugaku. _Why?)_

He wondered how the hell Tobirama survived everything back then, with all those odds that Sarutobi didn’t have to suffer.

Sometimes, Sarutobi was tempted to propose for his village to follow Kiri’s system, because history has proven that omega got shit done regardless all of the odds. Yagura just recently being elected as the Fourth Mizukage, and although the brat was the youngest among all five Kage, he has been leading Kiri to be one of the strongest shinobi nations in the short period he held that title.

And here Sarutobi was, with half of his mind fixed on his old friend—praying hard that Shisui managed to keep Danzou away from trouble for the whole day—while the other half of his mind was about to ready to give up the moment his civilian council started spouting out nonsenses.

“Punish the whole family,” one of the elders from the civilian council has voiced out, not even hiding the fear in their voice. “It’s their fault for not handling their child well.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the civilian side of the council, yet there wasn’t any opinion yet from the shinobi side.

“That’s ridiculous,” Fugaku snapped when one of the civilian elders wanted to call out a vote. “The Nohara is not responsible for Rin’s choice.”

“She is their child!”

“She is a shinobi,” Fugaku growled, persistent. “Civilian children are their parents’ responsibilities until they reach the age of 18, but shinobi children are responsible for their own action the moment they received their own hitai-ate.”

There was a brief tensed silence, because Fugaku didn't bother to hide his voice and the heavy weight of a pack alpha's dominance wasn't something that most civilians were familiar with, let alone being able to bear.

“You’re defending a traitor, Uchiha?”

Fugaku shifted his glare from the trembling civilian to meet Shikaku’s eyes.

Sarutobi shot a wary gaze at Shikaku. He didn’t need a rift between his shinobi council, but Shikaku seemed to be intent on challenging Fugaku. If those two clashed, the shinobi council will break apart. The Yamanaka and the Akimichi will forever be at the Nara’s flanks, while Mikoto’s lifelong friendship with Kushina, Tsume and Shira would put the last Uzumaki, the Inuzuka and the Aburame on their side.

Not the kind of rift he wanted in this kind of time.

“I’m defending an innocent family,” Fugaku countered, still firm and unwavering. “Put Nohara Rin down in the bingo book with whatever bounty you wanted but leave her family alone.”

Beside him, Minato twitched, just slightly, but everyone seemed to notice it.

Minato has been silent ever since the topic of Rin’s defection was brought up, and Sarutobi pitied his dear successor.

One student was killed in action, the other was brutally murdered while his last student ended up as a traitor.

Things were not looking up for the Namikaze, and to an extent to Sarutobi too, because he highly doubted that Minato even wanted to inherit the hat now. Orochimaru would have a better chance to the hat now, and judging from Minato’s down spiralling spirit recently, Sarutobi doubted that Minato would even want to fight for it.

Mess. This whole thing was an utter mess.

Shikaku hummed thoughtfully, his slouched posture was relaxed and casual, yet his eyes met Fugaku's with the intense stare that he wore in the warzone. He didn't push on though, but instead, remain in his contemplative silence

“Isn’t your clansman escaped the prison too?” one voice spoke up from the civilian side. “The one who killed our last Hatake? Maybe you’re in cahoots with the girl! Traitor!”

There was yet another buzz of murmurs from the civilian side, yet the shinobi remained in their contemplative silence, still analysing the situation before making their voices heard.

“Traitor!”

“The Uchiha has always been traitors!”

“Punish them too!”

God, did these people _want_ Tobirama to come back from the dead? His sensei didn't spend most of his Hokage career trying to keep the names of both the Senju and Uchiha clean from any form of animosity just for _this_ to happen decades after his death. The Uchiha was one of the founder clans, and with the exception of Madara's sudden episode of madness, the rest of the clan has always been loyal to Konoha. 

This nonsense would do nothing but cause more rift within the village's clans.

Sarutobi immediately opened his mouth to silence that argument.

“Watch your words”

It wasn’t him that succeed doing so.

Shikaku beat him to it, and this time, with more weight in his voice.

"It is an unforgivable offence to claim someone, let alone the whole clan, as a traitor without any form of proof," the Nara commented, almost sounding bored, but the glare he sent to the civilian elders carried the equal authority of the voice he just used. "Keep your silence if your words have no physical backing to it."

And just like that, the civilian elders fell into silence.

“I agree with Fugaku,” Shikaku added once the order was completely restored, successfully turning the tables and shocking everyone. “By the law of shinobi, Nohara Rin is responsible for her own action. If she chooses to ally herself with the new ruling of Ame, it is on her shoulders the burden of a traitor will be. Her family is innocent and shall not be treated any different than the rest of you.”

“But—”

“I agree,” Tsume interrupted, keeping her sharp glare fixed on the civilian man. “Rather than dwelling on this small matter, I think we should focus on the implications of her alliance with the Akatsuki,” she bared her fangs and growled when the civilian opened his mouth to argue. “Ame is at the centre of most of our warzones. With the jinchuuriki and Akatsuki guarding that area, what would become of this war?”

“Might I add, the Ghost is on their side too,” Shibi contributed quietly.

 _And we all know how powerful that man is,_ was the comment that remained unspoken.

Sarutobi cast a quick glance to his shinobi, noting on the silent shift in their eyes. He resisted a sigh, knowing that it was inevitable at this point. If a few weeks back, his shinobi was dead-set on winning this war, now there was a shift in their voices.

He knew that at least Tsume and Fugaku have been swayed, and Sarutobi couldn’t exactly fault them.

They were parents before they were shinobi, and as a parent himself, he was familiar with the dread of coming home from a warzone one day and having to bury his own child.

Rather than wanting to win the war now, they wanted it to _stop_.

Sarutobi dreaded what it meant when he too, have the same hope.

* * *

“Did your mother not teach you manners, kid?”

Really. That was a good question.

Kisame has seen this brat's mother—heavenly pretty she was, looking all like a proper princess despite being wrapped in ugly commoner's clothes. Hell, he wouldn't even be surprised if the lady was an actual royalty or something, because there was just something about her that made people thought so. Even from glimpses he had of her while accompanying his master to the Mizukage's tower, there was no question that her grace and manners were outstanding.

Her son, on the other hand…

Sukea’s little nose twitched—just slightly, and Kisame almost thought of it as cute—before the brat sunshin away, reappearing on the ledge of a window.

_Oh shit._

Common sense would have made him grabbed the brat before Sukea could even open the window.

But there wasn’t much entertaining thing that happened around here in this time of war, so Kisame decided to sit back and enjoy the show.

Not even a minute later, Mei’s screeching voice pierced through the air as Sukea backflipped from the window, avoiding all sort of toiletries that were thrown at him. To his credits, Sukea didn’t even show any form of emotion apart from the annoyed scowl on his face, even after he landed back to stand by Kisame’s side as Mei came out running almost the next second, her body was still slick with soap behind that white towel.

“PERVERT!” she accused as she halted to a stop, pointing her trembling finger in Sukea’s direction. “And Kisame! Are you in on this too??”

She would kill him if he laughed right now, wouldn’t she?

Mei turned around to give him the demon eyes.

Yes. Yes, she would kill him if he laughed now.

So Kisame took the safest route and simply nodded towards Sukea. “Brat is a fast one,” he said, shifting the blame to the one who can actually use that puppy eyes technique on Mei. “Can’t grab him on time.”

Mei shot him a disbelieving look.

Sukea, on the other hand, simply gave Mei a flat unimpressed stare. “Why are you so mad?” he asked, blunt and uncaring, though Kisame had to admit that the little confused frown he was making looked cutely innocent. “We’re both alphas.”

_Oh god. You did not just—_

“There is nothing to see on you.”

Kisame was dying from holding back his laughter.

“I’M A GIRL!”

“Girl alpha,” Sukea corrected.

“That means that there _are_ differences, idiot!”

“It’s okay. I have seen bigger chests than yours.”

Dying.

Kisame was dying.

Dear Suijin-sama and all the water gods, this was the end of Hoshigaki Kisame. Fuguki-san will have to find a new successor soon because Kisame was going to die.

“HOW DARE YOU—HEY!!!”

Completely ignoring the demonic Mei, Sukea sunshin towards the window again, swinging inside with lithe steps that confirmed his origin as Konoha’s trained shinobi. Kisame’s brows shot up to his hairline, noting on the lithe steps of the smaller boy, and silently wondered how the hell Sukea and his little family was able to escape Konoha in the first place.

Kiri usually didn’t let any traitor alive for more than a week, unless if that traitor is extremely strong to be eliminated in such a short time. He wasn’t sure if Konoha has the same missing-nin hunters as Kiri, but Sukea seemed to be the most reliable fighter among the family of three since their mother was more like the ‘spying’ type of shinobi, so if Konoha has one—those hunters weren’t doing their job right.

He didn’t have the time to ponder on that as Mei immediately ran back inside, probably determined to slaughter the mannerless little tyke. Thus, like a good older brother of everyone he was, Kisame followed her steps, navigating her house with ease until he reached her room upstairs. To his surprise and Mei's credits, she wasn't strangling Sukea as he arrived, but instead, she just stood at the door of her bathroom, frowning in confusion at the younger boy inside.

“Oh, it’s old scent,” Sukea randomly said, much to everyone confusion. “Wrong trail,” he added, looking up at Kisame with a sad little pout. “Since the blood scent was so strong in this direction, I thought that he was heading this way. Sorry.”

Mei observed Sukea with critical eyes for a brief second before she tilted her head back to meet Kisame’s eyes.

“Zabuza?” she asked.

“Yep,” Kisame responded.

Mei groaned but she was no longer in her demon mode, so Kisame assumed that she wouldn’t be strangling Sukea any time soon. Though, Kisame still tensed up when Mei strode across the slippery bathroom, but the tension immediately relaxed when the girl just snatched Sukea by the collar and tossed the boy towards Kisame.

“Out,” she grunted. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

With that, she slammed the door right in front of their faces.

Kisame exchanged a glance with the little boy in his arms, resisting so hard to comment on the sulky pout on Sukea’s face. Really. This kid has zero social skills what so ever. And this coming from Kisame, who stood over six feet tall at the age of sixteen and looked like a shark-monster.

Kisame hasn’t had a lot of friends either—partly due to the reputation of his now lost clan and partly because his looks were so bizarre and terrifying even among Kiri’s natives—but even _he_ knew how to behave in a social situation.

“You really have no manners, aren’t you?” he sighed, tucking Sukea under one arm as they made their way towards Mei’s living room. “You can’t just do that.”

“But I have what she has,” Sukea retorted, struggling to free himself from Kisame’s hold, before he eventually gave up and allowed himself to be carried, dangling helplessly in Kisame’s hold. “Apart from the chest,” he added suddenly, frowning now. “But I have seen people with bigger chest, so it isn’t like hers is anything special.”

Kisame didn’t know whether to facepalm or toss this little brat down the stairs.

If Sukea was going to keep carrying this unfiltered mouth, he would amuse and annoy a hell lot of people in Kiri.

“But still….," he started, but eventually ended up not commenting any further.

Sukea was lucky that he was so god damn tiny and cute.

“I don’t get it.”

Kisame ruffled that fluffy tuff of brown hair. “Wait till you’re a little bit older, kid.”

Sukea crossed his arms and pouted.

It was blissful silence as they headed down the stairs before Sukea finally broke the silence.

“Why does her bathroom have the same smell of blood that was on Zabuza, though?" the brat suddenly asked, tilting his head up to catch Kisame's gaze. "Did they slaughter people in there? Because I couldn't think of any other reason that might leave a permanent blood stench like that."

Kisame jerked at the unexpected question and quickly averted his eyes from meeting those wide mismatched eyes.

Sukea was close, but so far off the mark too.

It would have been easier if it was _that_ straightforward.

“It’s not like that,” he eventually sighed out, just because he’s a sucker for cute little things, and Sukea basically fit that bill.

“Then?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have the time to listen,” Sukea insisted. “Shiro-nii has his toys. He wouldn’t get into trouble, so I have time.”

“Look…,” Kisame started, only to pause and consider his words.

He thought of a graduation test turned horribly wrong, of watching in stunned horror as the closest thing he had for a brother ran amok within the arena, slaughtering his own classmates in a cold-hearted trance as the newly-elected Mizukage himself has to jump into the arena to stop the bloody rampant.

He thought of the distraught on Zabuza’s face once he was snapped out of his trance, the outburst of guilt and horror the young boy had right in the Mizukage’s embrace and the gentle assuring way Yagura-sama kept Zabuza in his arms until the tears finally calmed down.

He thought of the long hours waiting up there with Mei, bracing themselves through the washed stench of blood, horrified yet so very concerned as they listened through the door, waiting for the sound of shower remained as it was rather than a poor cover for the choked sobs from their distraught friend.

It was a long story, indeed. 

“Most of the old clans of Kiri has monster-like qualities,” he started, catching on his own reflection in one of Mei’s decorative vases. 

He immediately averted his gaze. 

Sukea tilted his head up, perking up in such a way that made him looked like an interested puppy.

"Like, my clan is pretty obvious, but clans like Zabuza's and Yagura-sama's are pretty subtle. Either way, there are reasons none of us can look as cute or pretty like you and your mom," he added with a dry grin, making an aimless gesture towards his own self. "We look like monsters, and sometimes, our monster comes out to play.”

"I think you and Zabuza look pretty cute though," Sukea piped in, so blatant and brutally honest that Kisame almost believed him. "Both of you are so tall. Your skin is pretty and Zabuza smelled really nice once I got past all the blood stench." 

Kisame stared at the boy that was dangling in his arms with widened eyes, wondering how the hell Sukea could spout that nonsense up and still looked him in the eyes with that same cocky persistent look as if he was challenging Kisame to argue that fact with him.

To be honest, that was so sweet of this kid, regardless of how misguided that opinion was.

"But not that scary girl," Sukea added with a shudder, crinkling his nose in the direction of the stairs. "She's not cute at all."

Kisame gave him a worn-out smile and ruffled that fluffy brown hair. 

_Sometimes, our monster comes out to play._

He placed Sukea onto the couch, pointedly not looking to his reflections in any of the reflective surfaces.

_And we have no control over them at all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to put this note here because I'm going to totally forget this in the future. Short-term memory sucks, tbh.
> 
> I changed a hell lot about Kiri for this story so this note is as much as a reference it was for you as it was for me.
> 
> 1\. They were maternal country, which prioritises the maternal part of the dynamic (omega and female betas, mostly) in their military and leadership. Just for the hell of it, imagine them like the Kuze shrine from Fatal Frame 3. The alpha's purpose was solely to father a child, and also serve the lower-ranks of literally everything.
> 
> 2\. There is no and has never been deathmatch as their graduation test in this universe (because I do not condone child mass murder wtf). They graduated like every other normal shinobi village, only with the exception of the best student in swordsmanship will be appraised by the current 7 swordsmen to be selected as a successor. As of at this point of this story, the swordsmen that have selected their successors were Juzo (Zabuza) and Fuguki (Kisame).
> 
> 3\. The Mizukage was basically a larger scale of pack's omega, so naturally, the whole Kiri considered the Mizukage as their mother in one way or another. Hence, the reason Yagura was the one who reacted and comforted Zabuza when he snapped.
> 
> 4\. The successors of the 7 swordsmen typically live in the Mizukage's estate whenever their masters were out on mission (which was sadly often in time of war) as the Mizukage would take over the supervision of their lessons and training in the absence of their masters.
> 
> 5\. Since looking at the list of seven swordsmen only confused the hell out of me, I'm going to fast forward the death of the 7 swordsmen soon. Most of them will die very soon at the hands of Dai (or someone else 😉) because I couldn't remember all those names and faces, yo. And I want to fast-forward the time frame of when Kisame and Zabuza have to inherit their swords and lost all of the remnants of their childhood innocence. 
> 
> P/s: Out of context, don't you all think that the swords Kiba were basically _made for_ Kakashi? 😉😉😉😉😉😉


	18. Bloodlust and promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm rushing for a week-long business trip, so this one is out early. Un-betaed and might be edited when I'm back. Enjoy for now!
> 
> Also, my lovely muse wanted me to put up a PSA for this chapter. I don't think it will traumatise you that much though, but he threatened me to put this little PSA, so...
> 
> _Get ready to internally scream, my dear lovely readers. And friendly reminder that I royally suck at action scenes._
> 
> We'll probably be back to our heroes in the next update, two weeks from now.

* * *

The mist of Kirigakure is a shield.

To people loyal to the land, the mist was a blessing. It protected them from harm, shielding them from the calculative views of their enemies. It protected their shinobi, providing cover for their vicious blades.

To people of Kirigakure, the mist is a form of protection.

The mist of Kirigakure would never harm the people it was protecting.

The red of the mist was from the blood of the enemies. The stale stench of death littering their borders were the mix of their brave fighters that have fallen on duty and that of the enemies who tried to infiltrate them. The blood that fertilised their soil was never from an innocent citizen or their own children.

It has always been the enemies, and never the people.

The bloody mist of Kirigakure would never swallow its own people.

Vicious and unforgiving they were, but they would never swallow their own people.

So, what made him then?

What _was_ Momochi Zabuza, then? 

When he snapped. When he blacked out and lost control of himself the moment he held the graduation sword. When he tainted the mist around the arena with the blood of his own brothers and sisters. When he lusted for the warm blood of his own kin. When he drove his sword through the unprotected chest of the Mizukage. When he was literally an inch from killing _Mother—_ their leader, the mother of Kirigakure himself—the one that was protecting them all.

What was him then?

Sometimes Zabuza didn't understand why he was still treated with respect. After the lives he ended. After the blood he has drunken from his own comrades. After the scar he left on the Mizukage. After the nightmares he gave Mei. After the worries he inflicted on Kisame.

Why was he still welcomed in this land?

He didn’t understand his people.

He didn’t understand his own self either.

He didn’t understand the reason it was so difficult to contain this bloodlust. He didn’t understand the reason his blood felt like it was boiling when he thought of that incident. He didn’t understand the reason the feeling that bubbled up his chest when he thought of that day wasn’t of disgust.

He was supposed to feel disgusted.

But he didn’t.

Behind the guilt and disgust that he tried to convince himself he was feeling, deep down, he knew that his blood was simmering in excitement at the memories of blood, bubbling with the urge for more. He wanted more. _More._ He wanted to feel the warmth of fresh blood on his skin. He wanted that electrifying pleasure it gave him when he swung his sword and was rewarded with blood.

He wanted to _fight_.

He wanted to _submit_.

Submit to the bloodlust. Surrender himself to the instincts. Draw his sword and _fight_.

“Let’s fight, then.”

Zabuza grimaced, flashing his naturally razor-sharp teeth as he acknowledged the challenge. His mind was already halfway submitting into the instincts, already sizing up his opponent, lusting for the smaller boy’s blood.

Though, there was still a spark of sanity left.

It was just a spark, but for a brief moment, he considered of backing out, because Sukea has done nothing but stating the obvious and didn't deserve death at this young age. It wasn’t Sukea’s fault that just remembering his graduation day would put Zabuza into a mad bloodlust.

It wasn’t Sukea’s fault that the instinct was more difficult to contain this time, even after the hours Zabuza has spent meditating under the sacred waterfalls.

It wasn’t Sukea’s fault that Zabuza was such a monster.

For that brief second, Zabuza wanted to back out.

Sukea didn’t deserve this. 

But Sukea tilted his chin up, displaying a pure confident arrogance that made something within Zabuza both roared and purred. Those mismatched eyes have lost all of its cutesy innocence that Zabuza’s sane mind remembered from their first meeting earlier of the day. Instead, Sukea seemed predatory in a way, his little canines flashed almost equally menacing as Zabuza’s razor-sharp teeth, peeking through parted wet lips, smug and taunting. The cloudy white of his left eye glimmered underneath the moonlight, and perhaps it was his own bloodlust tainting his gaze but Zabuza swore he saw a flicker of red in that supposedly blind eye.

“Come on, little omega,” Sukea purred—taunting, mocking—as the words rolled off his tongue like a deceitful invitation, wrapping around the challenge he was proposing. “Fight me.”

It was a temptation at its finest.

That wild thing in his chest roared again, draining his uncontrollable bloodlust towards this specific boy. It was something new—not entirely the mad bloodlust he was used to but something else that was almost similar—and Zabuza found himself rising to the challenge, a vicious warning growl ripped out of his throat.

He flexed his wrist and tightened his grip on his sword, already crouching into a kata when Sukea let out an amused bark of laughter.

The boy that was grinning at him wasn’t the cute helpless dork he has tailed for the past few days. He wasn’t the boy that adorably tried to babysit his more helpless elder brother. He wasn’t that small boy who hid behind his mother’s sleeves as they were introduced to the rest of the Mizukage’s council. He wasn’t that awkward brat that blurted out the most insensitive thing and could still look adorable as he did so.

Sukea wasn’t that socially awkward mess of a boy anymore.

No, the boy that was grinning at him was a completely different person—a vicious predator that made Zabuza’s blood sang within his veins as his body was set on figurative fire.

That wild monster in him _wanted_ to fight and subdue this bigger predator.

With little fangs peeking out of a taunting grin and hypnotic red that glimmered in cloudy white, Sukea proposed his challenge;

“Shall we dance?”

Now, now… wouldn’t it be rude if Zabuza didn’t answer that proposal?

* * *

Acting his own age was hard.

He was already used to acting like an adult ever since his father died. Mom was an omega, so naturally, with the presence of another legitimate alpha—a proper heir—in the clan, it would be inappropriate of her to assume the spot of the Clan Head.

So, at the age of 8, Kakashi was already used to act like an adult as he shouldered the burden as the Hatake Clan Head.

He didn’t remember being eight. He didn’t remember being a child after his father’s death. He didn’t remember playing the vicious shinobi tag with his classmates after his father’s death.

He only remembered the vicious mind games within the Hokage’s meeting room.

He remembered the mental game he played with the elders. He remembered asserting his dominance over the arrogant betas, putting them into the place where they belong— _civilians_ who should not have that loud of a voice in a shinobi council. He remembered scowling at Fugaku’s concern, refusing to be seen as a child by the Head Alpha of one of the biggest clans in Konoha. He remembered meeting Shikaku eye-to-eye, refusing to back down upon the man’s concerned persistence for him to stop being a Clan Head—at least until he was a little bit older. He remembered growling at Tsume, openly challenging the woman when she questioned the Hokage’s decision of allowing him succeeding his father’s spot in the council.

He remembered standing his ground and defying them all.

He didn’t remember how to act like a child of his own age.

What did normal eight-years-old do anyway? How did a typical eleven-years-old behave?

He didn’t know. Hadn’t bothered to know.

He was the last Clan Head of the Hatake clan. He _couldn’t_ be a child.

He _couldn’t_ afford to be a child.

But now that he was a nobody in Kiri, it was hard to act his own age, especially when he remembered nothing of how his academy peers behaved like. He wasn’t friends with any of them, and they all were merely fleeting memories in his mind—nothing of significance worth remembering.

Though there was a blurry memory of a loud-mouthed boy and the Sanbi girl—two of his academy peers that stood out than the rest of his insignificant peers—but if he couldn’t even remember their names, they must have been yet another fleeting classmate that wasn't important in his life.

So, he dismissed them to the back of his mind.

(He has to kill that Sanbi girl sometime in the future anyway. Getting attached to her just because of some unclear memories would be pure stupidity.)

In short, Kakashi has zero reference material on how to get by acting like an eleven-year-old boy.

Thus, interacting with Zabuza and Kisame was proven to be harder than expected.

He was almost worried that they were catching on, especially after his misstep with Zabuza, and later that mishap with Mei, but Kisame seemed to shrug his odd behaviour off as an awkward social skill anyway, so he managed to evade that kunai. His misstep turned out to be good for him actually, as it established a persona for him to take on—although unintentionally—but it was safe to say that he was slowly making his way into their hearts.

He ended up deciding to keep up that socially awkward adorable persona, especially after seeing the positive effects it seemed to have on the impressions that both Kisame and Mei had on him. Mei seemed to view him as a dorky idiot, while Kisame has practically adopted him as a little brother by this point, so he was good with both of them.

But it was tiring.

He wasn’t used to acting like a kid.

Hence, when his detour towards the sacred waterfall for midnight training brought him to the person that he has spent the whole day trying to track, Kakashi was ecstatic. Kisame has warned him that tracking Zabuza would be difficult in this kind of circumstances—as Zabuza’s scent tended to change when he wasn’t completely being himself—but Kisame didn’t stop tailing each of his steps as they ventured the whole village anyway, much to Mei’s irritation.

With Kisame hovering behind him, and Mei angrily trailing after their footsteps, socialising was inevitable. 

Socialising was hard when you’re generally anti-social.

By the end of the day, Kakashi has too much of pent-up frustration from his failed attempts of socialising that he would do anything for a good spar.

And like a wrapped gift from heavens, he encountered Zabuza.

True to Kisame’s words, Zabuza wasn’t being himself—more of a monster Kirigakure's shinobi were famed as rather than the blushing boy that Kakashi first met—so Kakashi didn’t see any fault in dropping his innocent persona. He could always blame the overwhelmingly sweet scent that Zabuza was emitting, knowing that it was completely normal to react to this kind of circumstances with a bit of aggression and madness on his part, especially considering that he was a young boy who shouldn't have any form of complex self-control at all.

When it came to the old clans, the deep-set instinct of their minds was particularly difficult to control among younger children, especially with the presence of a trigger agent like the reaction Zabuza was having. Kakashi could already feel his own blood responding to Zabuza’s challenge anyway, boiling in that burning needs to fight and subdue.

He wanted to _fight_.

He wanted to _subdue_.

Subdue this mad bloodlust. Surrender himself to the instincts. Draw his sword and _fight_.

Subdue this beast. Make this beast _his_.

So, he flashed his teeth in a taunting grin and proposed a challenge;

“Shall we dance?”

Zabuza answered him with a strike.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then,” he hummed, greeting the strike with the flat of his blade, going on the defensive route for now.

Zabuza answered him with a growl that sounded more demon-like rather than beast-like, which made Kakashi wondered what kind of ancient blood was tied to Kiri’s old clans for Zabuza to sound like this. He didn’t let his guard down though—despite the sudden curiousity—because even though he was sufficiently trained in kenjutsu, Kiri was famed for their elite swordsmen.

Zabuza was the official successor for the Kubikiribōchō.

Logical reasoning would assume that Zabuza must have been extensively trained in literally every kind of swords ever, so there was no doubt that the older boy would have superior skills.

And it showed.

Despite Kakashi’s chakra sword being made from superior metal and quality, Zabuza’s standard-grade sword managed to put pressure on the blade as well as Kakashi himself, cornering him into a purely defensive position in that one strike.

Even at this age, Zabuza would have been pretty devastating opponent as an enemy.

It was _fantastic._

Kakashi allowed the smallest amount of chakra to his left eye—just enough to activate the rinnegan sharingan but not enough to break the genjutsu that made his eye appeared _blind—_ and he was just in time to see the quick hand sign that Zabuza formed.

Mist floated up from the sacred waterfall, creeping up their feet before swallowing them whole.

“That’s cheating,” he mused, pouting.

Zabuza sneered, dark eyes glimmered with a faint sheen of red as he retreated into the mist and went completely invisible to sight.

Kakashi barked out an amused laugh.

“So, we’re playing hide and seek now?” he asked to the cold mist, honestly not expecting any response considering how insane Zabuza was acting.

To think that he was planning to train while using his left eye too. 

Regardless at the change of his training option, Kakashi adapted to the situation, letting his eyes fluttered shut, closing one sense to sharpen the rest. He isolated the scents first, which wasn’t hard to do considering that Zabuza was emitting an overwhelmingly inviting scent that even the stale scent of the mist couldn’t hide.

It almost made his mouth watered, in fact.

It only took him ten seconds to pinpoint Zabuza’s exact location within the mist, which was apparently the exact time Zabuza required to launch another attack. The strike that came afterwards was aiming for his left side, something that Kakashi was half-expecting. Every shinobi worth their salt would obviously go for his left side, the literal _blind_ spot that he was supposed to have. So he greeted the attack with a quick shift of his own blade, channelling a little bit of raiton into the blade.

His lightning pierced through the mist towards the dark night sky, and if no one noticed their spar before, it sure has attracted attention now.

Not that Kakashi would mind.

An audience would be good to establish his image in Kiri.

He didn’t bother to acknowledge his approaching audience though, despite their arrival meant zero chance for him to attempt using his left eye. Thankfully, they didn’t interfere in the spar, opting to remain hidden among the trees just outside the mist range.

Kakashi could still feel their scrutinising gaze on his back, though.

All the more reasons to show off.

Using Raikiri would be a dead giveaway to his identity as Hatake Kakashi, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t wield his chakra through his sword. That was a common tactic among capable jounin, and he would rather not go through yet another genin test when the Mizukage’s council finally decided to rank him.

Plus, this would give him an edge against Zabuza’s superior swordsmanship.

Zabuza’s next attack was more calculated and careful—almost like a painful tease in a way—as they engaged in a deadly dance within the mist. Lightning-enhanced blade clashed with ordinary metal as they attempted to subdue each other, but neither blade managed to touch the other.

All the while, Kakashi has his eyes closed, fully utilising his more useful senses instead.

He welcomed the next sneak attack with a sudden whirl, channelling more of his raiton through the blade until his lightning became the extension of the sword. It halted Zabuza mid-attack and the older boy evaded the whipping lightning just in time, falling back into the mist almost the next instant.

Now, now. What a tease.

“You’re a cruel tease, aren’t you?” Kakashi hummed, correcting the grip he has on his sword. He still has his eyes closed as he stalked through the mist, paying attention to everything that didn’t sound like the soothing sound of the waterfall and didn't smell like the stale scent of the mist.

There was a faint rustle, a shift in the air movement and Kakashi swooped low the exact moment sharp blade slashed through the mist, aiming for the spot his neck was previously at.

Apparently, someone was _really_ lusting for his blood.

It was such a good thing that Zabuza was a good foot and a half taller than him.

Kakashi pivoted on his heels, deactivating his lightning as he kept his non-dominant fist close to his chest and angled his elbow towards that vulnerable spot just below Zabuza’s pecs, fully utilising his advantage of their height differences and his speed for the momentum he needed. It was a simple and innocent move, especially considering that Kakashi was on the lighter side of the weight spectrum. Though, coupled with the speed both he and Zabuza were using, the momentum of his weight moving at such speed, the fact that he purposely angled his skinny sharp elbow to the solar plexus and that Zabuza wasn't expecting that Kakashi would go for hands-on combat instead of using his sword—

—the end result was a sweet victory.

There was a hitched gasp fanning on top of his head as they both tumbled onto the wet ground, and Kakashi took Zabuza’s momentary slackened grip to slap the sword away. He let go of his sword too, making sure that the blade was still within his reach as he did so but didn’t allow his much taller opponent any chance of turning the tables.

Pinned. Subdued. Helpless.

_Victory._

He could barely wrap his hands around Zabuza’s wrists, the thighs pinned beneath his knees were thicker than he expected and Zabuza could easily weigh twice his own weight with that kind of muscles, but they both knew who the victor was.

“Caught you,” he hummed, barely grazing the flushed ear with his teeth. “Yield, little omega.”

_Sweet, sweet victory._

Zabuza was breathing in short broken gasps, heart beating so fast that Kakashi could _feel_ the rhythm even without having their chests touching. It didn’t stop him from pinning the older boy with everything that he had, though. Zabuza was a trained shinobi as Kakashi was. Underestimating his pain tolerance would be both stupid and insulting.

Kakashi might be an asshole, but he wouldn't insult such a lovely opponent like that.

Zabuza wriggled beneath the cage of his thighs and tried to chase him off with a growl, but something was probably broken underneath that heaving chest because the sound that he let out was close to a breathless whimper instead of a growl.

It was almost cute.

And at this intimate range, Kakashi finally realised how good the older boy actually smelled like. It was the kind of sweetly inviting scent so overpowering that even the blood stench soaking Zabuza could not cover it. It caused him to subconsciously lick the pointy ends of his sharp little canines too, honestly wondering if Zabuza will taste as sweet as how he smelled like.

Zabuza smelled extremely good that Kakashi could feel his logic taking off from his mind, leaving the ancient primitive instinct to take the reign of his body.

He could barely consider the option of tasting the older boy though, as he was sent flying a good metre away with a kick around his abdomen and was pinned down himself, but not by the warm body of another human. Instead, he was pinned down by a foot on his chest and the cold sharp edge of the infamous Kubikiribōchō around his neck. The semi-circular curve of the blade framed his neck, keeping him down on the ground with the silent threat of beheading.

Kakashi didn’t show any fear though—because he was an insufferable little shit as Mei has kindly described him—and he simply stared up ahead to meet the narrowed gaze of the scowling man.

“Playtime’s over, brat,” the man snarled, displaying a full set of razor-sharp teeth in a threatening grimace.

“So soon?” Kakashi retorted back, using that cute tone that seemed to melt Kisame to a crooning sap, though he couldn’t resist taunting the man, flashing his own canines in a laidback grin. “10 more minutes, _please_?”

Was he playing with fire?

Yes, he was—because Biwa Juzo did not look pleased at all.

“I like this kid,” someone commented from the background, humour in his voice. “You got guts, runt.”

Juzo snarled at the speaker.

Though he did remove his sword, freeing Kakashi’s neck from the deadly entrapment but didn’t remove the foot he had on Kakashi’s chest until he made his displease vocal with another warning growl. Kakashi gave the man a cutesy smile, slipping back to his Sukea persona even as he finally realised that the audience he has invited to watch his spar with Zabuza was actually the full set of Kirigakure’s infamous swordsmen themselves. Most of them were still keeping their distance, stalking from behind the trees as only Raiga and Fuguki were the ones checking on Zabuza while Juzo over here acting like a pissed off parent whose cub just got hurt by an unwanted pest.

“Status?” Juzo barked, distrustful eyes still fixed on Kakashi, though the edge of his gaze softened by a tiny bit as he glanced at Zabuza.

“Runt broke his sternum,” Raiga hooted, sounding both impressed and humoured as he sent an approving wink in Kakashi’s direction. “Impressive, kiddo.”

Kakashi beamed back, smiling brightly.

Juzo snarled at both of them.

“My brat is going to have a field day with this,” Fuguki lamented, the quirk of his smile was a mix of sympathetic and terrified. “He has been trying for years to baby yours. This is a perfect chance.”

Juzo didn’t respond any more than the annoyed glare he sent to his fellow swordsmen, but Kakashi took note on the way his whole expression softened by just a tiny bit when he inspected the extent of Zabuza’s injuries. He observed the methodical yet gentle way Juzo was handling Zabuza, starting from the standard first-aid inspection down to the way the man cradled the heaving boy against his chest.

It wasn’t the obvious care that Kisame seemed to have a habit of showing, but it was a glaring weakness that Kakashi so easily picked up. He stored that new information at the back of his head, knowing that there might be some use for it sometime in the future.

He needed to observe Fuguki’s interaction with Kisame too, because there was a chance that the swordsmen’s relationship with their respective successors were not as simple of a relationship between a master and an apprentice. There might be a deeper bond there that he should take note on—as both a precaution and strategic planning.

Though, his train of thoughts was cut off by the uneasy feeling of being observed. He instinctively sought for his observer, meeting deep blue eyes with a fearless gaze and a calm smile. The corners of Raiga's lips twitched as their gaze met, looking as if he wanted to laugh. The man managed to keep a straight face though, even as he offered a hand to help Kakashi stand.

“That was good lightning control, runt,” the man commented as Kakashi got on his feet back. “Your main chakra affinity?”

Kakashi returned Raiga’s calculating gaze with an eye-smile.

“Yes, sir,” he chirped politely.

He didn’t flinch, keeping his body relaxed and his heartbeats calm even as he felt the burning gaze of mixed emotions from the other swordsmen being centred on his back.

Juzo’s was particularly obvious, with that amount of hostility he was channelling in Kakashi’s direction.

“Raiga,” Juzo started, voice low and stern. “He’s not of Kiri.”

“Yagura took his family in as one of ours. They swore their loyalty to us. That's as good as being Kiri-born to me,” Raiga retorted with a careless shrug. “Plus, we do not discriminate talent and strength.”

Kakashi was pretty sure that his responding adorable smile was increasing Juzo’s blood pressure as the seconds ticked by, but he didn’t mind it as more of the previously hidden swordsmen has come into their circle, seemingly interested with the turn of events.

Raiga didn’t seem to take notice though, as his focus was solely on Kakashi. “How old are you again?” he asked.

“Eleven, sir.”

This time, Raiga didn’t bother to hide his smile.

“Eleven,” Fuguki breathed, sounding more impressed than he wanted to let on. “With that level of chakra control? Runt, you have a gift.”

Raiga was practically beaming right now, the glint in his eyes looked like he just discovered a hidden treasure.

“He’s an alpha and an _outsider_ ,” Kushimaru hissed, disapproving and sounding downright pissed off. “ _No_.”

“My successor, my rights,” that was Raiga’s simple and firm response.

“Ameyuri will be rolling in her grave for this,” Kushimaru gritted out, and even behind the mask, Kakashi could feel the effects of his hostile disapproving glare. “Don’t you dare dishonour her memories.”

“If you honour her memories, you would remember that she valued strength and talent above all,” was Raiga’s quiet response.

"RAIGA!"

“My successor, my rights,” Raiga repeated, firm and unyielding.

Kushimaru hissed at him.

Kakashi silently observed the interactions, taking notes on the obvious rift between the swordsmen.

If it was deemed too hard to keep these people under his control, he could’ve just orchestrated them to kill each other. With this kind of rift, it should be easy to have them turning their blades against each other. Less headache for both him and his mom, considering that these were the types of people that would go to hell and back to resist their genjutsu. Getting rid of them should be one of his future consideration, just in case if they were becoming more of a nuisance than a perfect pawn.

Once they were dead, perfect control over them could be gained by a few sacrifices of White Zetsu to Edo Tensei them.

Perfect soldier under perfect control. Win-win situation.

“Runt,” Raiga said, and Kakashi immediately snapped to attention, looking up to meet the man’s gaze. “Your name?”

“Sukea, sir,” Kakashi said with a pleasant smile, knowing that as a shinobi who has acknowledged his talent, Raiga wouldn’t be bothered to request for a family name.

Every shinobi worth their salt would know to not give their family name to anyone.

“Still want that extra playtime?” true to his expectations, Raiga didn’t bother to ask more of his name, but instead offered one half of his own famed sword to Kakashi.

Kakashi answered him by taking the offered sword with a beaming bright smile towards the man.

“Yes, sir.”

Gripping the hilt of one half of the Kiba, Kakashi counted this as another sweet victory.

* * *

“You’re grounded.”

Zabuza winced but didn’t dare to argue against his own master.

Hell, he didn’t particularly remember how exactly he ended up stranded at the emergency room of the hospital, but by the time his mind cleared up from the familiar fog of his instinct-driven madness, he was dead terrified by the disapproving glare Juzo was directing at him.

His master wasn’t even supposed to be back until next week.

What had happened?

He felt oddly exhausted though, something that he wished to attribute to whatever painkillers the nurses decided to stuff into his system, although he knew that with the glare Juzo was directing at him, the chance that this exhaustion was caused by painkillers was slim to none.

“Did Kisame and Mei teamed up to subdue me again?” he croaked out and promptly flinched at how weak he sounded.

He wasn't used to feeling this tired, even after his episode of madness. This was a different kind of exhaustion, like something in his mind was being pinned down by a heavy weight he couldn’t fight.

What had happened to him?

Juzo scowled at him.

“You’re lucky,” the man growled, and Zabuza flinched away when Juzo reached out a hand in his direction, honestly expecting a reprimanding slap, but was rendered half-terrified when the man simply brushed his fingers along the slight bump on his neck. “You’re damn lucky we came back early,” Juzo scowled, his touch was almost horrifyingly gentle as his hand retreat to cross over his chest. “That brat is too young to know what he was imposing on you. Both of you were moving purely on instinct and that is dangerous, kid.”

Zabuza honestly has no idea what the hell Juzo was talking about.

The fact that his brain was too tired to think of it made everything felt even more confusing.

Though, it wasn't long before his brain was awake enough to kickstart his mind to a partially proper function.

 _“Caught you_.”

Like an electric shock, that playful voice jerked him up from his lay, causing the ice pack he didn’t realise was resting on his chest to drop on his lap. He didn’t feel the cold nor the pain though, because the cold realisation washing down his bones felt even more real than the ice.

_“Yield, little omega.”_

And he was all too ready to submit to that claim.

That was so close.

_So freaking close._

Juzo didn’t seem surprised at his sudden outburst though, but instead gently yet very firmly eased him back to his former lying position. The man silently placed the icepack back over his chest, keeping Zabuza down and nervous with his disapproving concerned glare.

“Good news is, he is too young to initiate anything permanent, even if we weren’t there to stop both of you from snowballing to a headache-inducing mess,” this time Juzo’s voice was quiet and solemn, before he let out a long and exhausted sigh. “But the accidental attachment you two formed on each other would be equally annoying to deal with, despite it not being permanent.”

Zabuza swallowed, flinching at the bile he didn’t realise has risen up his throat.

“Be grateful that the runt is still a brat,” Juzo muttered, eyes fluttering shut, the stress lines of his eyes relaxed by a tiny bit as his shoulders slackened against the metal chair. “Being attached is the last thing you want in this time of war. If he didn’t survive and you’re attached—”

Juzo didn't continue, but it was common knowledge anyway.

 _The pain will drive you either down the path of hatred or madness—or worse, **both**_ **.**

The exact reason that driven his mother down to a suicidal path, really. The reason Kisame’s father went into a path of destructive recklessness in the last war.

Attachment is a double-edged sword.

At one edge, it was the driving force to fight but at the other end, it could be the very thing that led to your own demise.

“I’m sorry,” Zabuza eventually mumbled out, because what else can he offer to the master that risked his own sanity to form this kind of attachment on him?

The warm weight that landed on his head was comforting, despite the rough edges of a seasoned warrior who was not familiar with showing tender care.

It made that tender little thing in his chest warmed up by a tiny bit.

“Not your fault,” Juzo murmured, quiet and almost inaudible. “Not his either,” he added with an almost pained-looking grimace. “Just wait until you two are old enough to watch each other’s back and survive this war together. It wouldn’t be as dangerous then.”

There was a faint teasing edge in Juzo’s solemn voice, and as rare as it was to hear that, the implication of his words distracted Zabuza from it.

“Who would want that tiny scarecrow—!”

His words were cut off by a sudden flicker of chakra as the very person of their conversation suddenly appearing right there by the side of his bed, casually lounging on the mattress with his feet propped over the bedside table like he owned the place.

Zabuza blinked in pure bafflement.

Sukea beamed at him, bright and innocent, as if he didn’t just break Zabuza’s sternum and almost initiated a mating bond not a few hours ago.

If Juzo has brows, his brows would have twitched in restrained rage now.

“I’m told that what I almost did was severely inappropriate,” the weedy little scarecrow started, reaching out a petite hand to curve over Zabuza’s cheek, smiling harmlessly even when the older boy visibly froze and gaped under his touch. “For that, I’m terribly sorry. I was not aware of what it could do to us.”

Juzo very casually reached out for the hilt of Kubikiribōchō that was resting against the wall.

“And sorry for breaking your sternum too,” Sukea hummed again, seeming like he was oblivious to the darkening aura right behind him. “I swear that I was simply planning to knock your breath out and has no intention of risking this kind of injuries on you.”

Either Sukea was suicidal, or he was extremely dense and oblivious.

But Zabuza knew that Sukea was perfectly aware of the fact that Juzo was considering the number of pieces he wanted to chop him into. Those mismatched eyes glanced in Juzo’s direction for a brief second, glinting with pure mischief that was both amusing and made Zabuza fear for him. Sukea gave Zabuza that eye-smile and beaming grin again, acting perfectly oblivious as he very gently fixed the position of the icepack over Zabuza’s chest, making a point of lightly brushing his fingers over the exposed skin.

Suicidal, then.

“I’ll nurse you to health as an apology,” Sukea offered with yet another beaming smile. “Is that okay?”

Zabuza was a tiny bit impressed when Sukea didn’t even change his expression as the Kubikiribōchō swung to slice him into half. Instead, his smile only got brighter as he casually balanced himself over the flat of the blade, despite the cold seething disapproval emitting from behind him.

To that casual evasion, Zabuza could only stare in disbelief.

 _Fuck_.

“Forget it,” Juzo growled, snarling when Sukea simply backflipped and landed back on the windowsill when he retracted the sword. “You can die for all that I care.”

“Oh no, can’t do that, oh respectable sir,” Sukea hummed, almost giggly in a way even as he risked losing his arm by grasping Zabuza’s limp hand. “Who’s going to take the responsibilities taking care of poor Zabuza-kun over here, then?”

Zabuza didn’t know where to pay attention to—whether it was his fuming master, or the roughened small hand that was holding his own—but he was grateful that both of them were too distracted with each other to notice that he was so close of losing his own cool.

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

Sukea evaded Juzo’s calculated swing, balancing on one hand right at the edge of the bed, eyes fluttering shut as he planted a fleeting kiss on Zabuza’s knuckles, and then proceeded to evade another swing of the executioner blade with his eyes still closed.

“GET OUT,” Juzo roared.

Somewhere behind the curtains, Zabuza heard Raiga’s muffled snickers and amused comment;

“I really like that runt.”

Zabuza could understand why.

* * *

Humans really never fail to impress.

“So easy.”

Kaguya hummed in agreement, threading her fingers through soft brown hair as he felt that little body nestling on her lap relaxed to a near-sleep state. In a way, she felt a form of fondness growing within her—something unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome—as Kakashi continued obliterating her expectations on him and kept on proving what a great choice she has made that night she spirited him away from Konoha.

Befriending the successors of the infamous swords was one thing.

Becoming one of the successors of the infamous sword was a completely different thing.

When will he stop surprising and impressing her?

Such a perfect tool. Such a wonderful son.

Indra’s cold-hearted cunning. Ashura’s tenacity of never giving up. Hagoromo’s deep understanding of the human's emotions.

Hamura’s undivided love and devoted loyalty to her.

Kakashi possessed a piece from each of them.

_How could someone be so perfect?_

Kakashi barked out an amused laugh, and then did she realise that she has asked that question out loud.

“I’m your son, Mom,” he giggled, climbing off her lap just so that he could pull her to lie alongside his small body. “Yours and Dad’s,” he emphasised, snuggling close to her chest. “Of course you two would make the most perfect son— _me_.”

Kaguya found herself to respond to the unexpected warmth of his embrace, throwing her arms around that small body and cradled him closer to her chest. She rested her chin on top of his head, feeling his breathing evened out right against her collarbones. 

It felt... _nice._ Almost nostalgic, even.

Running her hands down his back, she traced all the knots and tension within his muscles—something that just recently formed from his unexpected training with his new master—and she found her hands moved on their own, trying to loosen all the knots with a fleeting thought of wanting him to be a little bit more comfortable for tonight’s sleep.

He groaned in relief as one knot loosened, and Kaguya instantly froze.

Did she—?

No. She didn’t. She just needed her tool to be at its best shape. She didn’t—

Kakashi sighed and nestled closer in the crook of her arm, his smaller arms pulled her closer into that little furnace of devoted warmth. He wriggled around for a while, before settling with the blanket completely wrapped around him, his head resting at the crook of her arm, his body tucked against hers and his warm breath fanning the skin of her neck. His eyes then fluttered open from their sleepy drag—with the genjutsu half-undone this time—and Kaguya found herself to be bewitched with his mismatched eyes.

The red rinnegan-sharingan of his left eye was originally hers, despite she having to use Madara’s sharingan as a trigger to have that fragment of her power to manifest properly. Seeing this eye in this close of proximity triggered an odd sense of possession deep within her chest, making her to subconsciously moved a hand to cup his cheek.

 _Hers_.

This was _hers._

Shifting her gaze to his other eye invoked a different emotion entirely. The brown he has chosen to mask his pitch-dark eyes invoked the unwanted feeling of betrayal deep within her chest, reminding her of the similar brown eyes that betrayed her despite the love they have sown.

How those cold brown eyes dared to sentence her to death, along with their own unborn children, as if they meant absolutely nothing to _him_.

As if their love meant nothing.

As if _his_ children in her womb meant nothing.

As if they worth absolutely nothing.

Their love was so insignificant to him that he could easily swallow the lies his foes spun about her.

She hated that brown eye with passion.

“Switch back,” Kaguya rasped, tracing her thumb underneath his right eye.

How dare this brown eye betrayed her trust and love.

“Eh?” Kakashi blurted out, eyes blinking blearily, sleepier than Kaguya thought he originally was. "Mom?"

“Switch back this eye,” she murmured, pressing slightly at the skin under his right eye. "Kashi, switch it back."

 _“_ Mom? _”_

“Let me see your father’s eye,” she said, desperate to have that brown eye away, so desperate to have _Tenji’s_ eye out of her sight, “ _please.”_

Kakashi’s responding smile was soft and gentle, but his palms were warm and grounding against her cheeks, his thumbs were gentle as they wiped the wetness away from her own cheeks. He then broke the other half of the genjutsu, and that horrible brown eye shifted back to his original eye—the pitch-dark void that reminded her of the comfort Tsukiyomi’s darkness offered.

“It’s okay, Mom,” he crooned, small hands kept her close and grounded. “I’m here. I will never leave you.”

Kaguya didn't say anything but kept her gaze fixed on the black and red of his eyes—the dark night sky and the red moon that were both a comfort to her. Her hands acted on their own again, pulling him closer into the cradle of her arms, clinging to that fragments of content ancient memories when Hagoromo and Hamura weren’t turning their powers against her.

"Do not betray me," she whispered to his hair, fully intending those words as a threat, but the hurting part in her chest at the memories of Tenji's and her sons' betrayal made her voice came out as broken as her shattered heart instead.

“Never,” he responded with a clear voice, leaning up to plant a kiss on her forehead. “Never.”

Kaguya couldn’t stop herself from shuddering under that gesture.

“I’m here, Mom,” he assured. “I will never betray you.”

She almost didn’t want to trust him, but there was that fierce stubbornness in his voice that made she caved to his promise.

“Until my last dying breath,” Kakashi said, sealing his words with a kiss over her forehead, “I will remain your loyal son, Mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, you can actually knock someone out in that one hit if you know the technique and has practiced it to perfection. The source I found [here](https://howtheyplay.com/individual-sports/How-To-Stop-A-Fight-In-One-Hit-With-a-Palm-Strike-To-Solar-Plexus) use palm strike, but you gotta admit that elbow+body weight+Kaka's speed is gonna hurt more and probably could land a shinobi to a quick trip to the ER.
> 
> Andddd...anyone terrified of the way smol Kashi is thinking?
> 
> P/s: Twenty years from now, KakaZabu's pups are going to have the most lit "How I Met and Fell for Your Mother" talk from their beloved alpha. Also, twenty years from now, Obito is going to grow grey long before he reached his forties because if this is KakaZabu when neither of them completely understand the fun stuff of their dynamics, imagine them as mated adults that are sexually active.
> 
> _Pure nightmare_
> 
> P.p/s: Who do u people usually pair Kisame with? I usually go for KisaObi but Obi is taken. I low-key thinking of KisaGai over here, just because of the headache they will end up giving to Hokage Obito (under the egging and influence from the not-really-feeling-the-guilt Kakashi, ofc).


	19. From rose-tinted lens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember the little girl Setsuna rescued in chapter 16? This chapter is from her point of view. My muse challenged me to include the change of Ame, from the lens of a civilian.
> 
> I choose little Miu. So, this chapter will view Ame from her eyes. It would be from the perspective of a five years old child.
> 
> Enjoy.

* * *

It was such a fine day in the newly-reborn Ame.

The rain has not yet returned in their unforgiving force like before, but instead only came in a little drizzle that started when the sun peeked at the horizon and lasted long enough for everyone to wake up and see the sparkling remnants of dew on the vibrantly blooming flowers.

Rare. Such a rare sight, but not one that was unwelcomed.

The stench of death from Hanzou’s tyranny rule has faded now, being replaced with the fresh scent of spring. The first sound that followed after the sound of birds chirping was the sound of giggling children. At long last, the children of Ame could venture the village without the fear of accidentally annoying the wrong people.

Miu was one of those children, enjoying her morning by running across the newly-formed landscape of Ame right after she added light pink to her mother’s once colourless cheeks.

It was a better day. Such a fine day—

“YOU IDIOT!!!”

Or not.

Miu looked up towards the once forbidden palace, wondering what has triggered such loud yell. By this point, it was no longer a strange occurrence. It has been a normal thing ever since the shift of power in Amegakure a few days ago. The other day there was a vibrant flash of light that almost outshone the sun, yesterday was a mortified shriek and today it was a yell.

Their new ruling power was significantly different than the previous one and the whole Ame seemed to love it.

But today, Miu paid more attention to the palace’s shenanigan. She definitely recognised the yelling voice—she will recognise that voice _everywhere_ —because the voice belonged to the goddess who helped heal her momma.

Momma used to lie in the death house, waiting for death to save her from her own rotting body but then, the rain stopped, and things started to change.

The goddess killed their cruel king.

The saviour arrived and free their people.

The god blessed their land with the sustenance they desperately needed.

Then, the angels in black started fixing their broken country, one step at a time.

In Miu’s rose-tinted gaze, these _beings_ were the answers to her years of prayers to the sky. She revered them with devoted trust and loyalty, looking up at them with trusting eyes, even in this short week after they arrived into her life.

Though, being godly in her eyes didn’t stop them from getting involved in stupid amusing shenanigans.

_Again._

A fine day in Ame indeed.

* * *

Being a civilian child, Miu viewed the heroes of Ame with a rose-tinted gaze.

The new king was a far superior upgrade than the previous one—a kinder man, a gentler soul and a more loveable human being than Hanzou ever was. The king’s advisor was the silliest and funniest shinobi Miu has ever met, also a man that was equally loveable as the new king. The new general was so efficient in managing the nation that in just a few days, there was already an established devoted group of little girls that aspire to be like her.

Those three were the _trio_.

Then, there was _THE_ trio—the foreign ones.

Miu viewed the foreign trio as godly beings.

To her, the foreign trio was not shinobi—not _humans_ —because the air that the three of them carried were _different_.

Miu already has her favourite shinobi, and both of them were nowhere close to the trio. Her favourite shinobi felt _human_ , despite the gift of chakra and kekkei genkai that both of them wielded. She could still feel a form of relation with Setsu-nii and Mari-nee, even though she was a civilian and they both were shinobi.

They were different in a way—shinobi and civilian—but at the core, Miu could still feel the human in them.

However, the foreign three didn’t feel like they were human at all.

The _goddess._ The _saviour._ The _god._

All three of them felt incredibly different than normal human or shinobi.

Even as a young civilian, Miu knew that the three of them were brimming with some form of divine inhuman power.

When she sat by Rin-sama’s side, one hand holding her momma’s pale one while the other fisting on her own kimono, the air that she felt emitting from the older girl was so powerful. It wasn’t suffocating, was nowhere close to being oppressive, but there was raw power in the air. It reminded Miu that the girl in front of her was not one to be taken lightly.

Being around Nohara Rin reminded her of the description of the ocean that Tanaka once told her in one of his stories.

Calm and beautiful at the surface, rich with _life_ deep inside, but with unknown power beneath. If that power is unleashed, the effects would be devastating. Beautiful an ocean was, it has all the capabilities to be unpredictably destructive and unforgiving against those who invoke its wrath.

But an ocean was so full of life too—a blessing for those who seek its tender care.

Miu watched the infected wounds on her mother’s frail body healed under Rin-sama’s glowing hands. Her heart felt a little bit lighter when colour returned to Momma’s ashen face. Her lips quirked to a relieved smile when she heard Momma breathed a little bit easier. Her tears prickled at her eyes when she could no longer smell the rotten flesh of her mother’s once beautiful body.

Momma was healed.

The realisation hit her with full force, causing her to burst to grateful tears.

 _“Do not cry for me,”_ Momma has once said, the last time she was conscious to speak to her. _“I will be fine.”_

She hadn’t been fine. Not then. Not recently. Never.

Momma has never been fine ever since the scary shinobi man started taking her out.

Mission, Momma has told her once. She was helping out in an important mission for their king.

But they were _civilian._

Civilians were not qualified to take missions as shinobi did. Civilians weren't supposed to go to missions. They shouldn't interfere. They weren't shinobi.

Regardless, Momma always went with the shinobi man, and would eventually return with fresh, untreated injuries and a little bit of extra food for Miu.

It went on long enough that _“I will be fine”_ started to mean _“At least, I’m still alive”_ in their small family.

Momma has never been fine.

But this time, Momma looked like she would be.

 _“You mother will be fine,”_ Rin-sama has told Miu that day, her hand landing on top of Miu’s head with gentleness so unlike the power she was radiating. _“She might be a bit weak for now, but with time and medicine, she will be fine.”_

And she wasn’t lying.

Momma has indeed become better. She was even strong enough to help with the harvest. Strong enough to yell at Miu for playing in the mud. Strong enough to nag Miu when she came back with a naginata and an amused Akatsuki trailing behind her. Strong enough to be worried that her daughter was learning to fight, even when the shinobi assured her that Miu would be trained by the best.

Momma was now strong enough to hold Miu warm and safe every night, secure in her once cold embrace.

Miu has witnessed the proof of Rin’s words. She has experienced the heavy weight of the Sanbi jinchuuriki’s power, has observed the magic the older girl has bestowed on her mother and has the knowledge that Nohara Rin was the one who put an end to Hanzou.

That was the moment Miu decided that Nohara Rin was not a human.

Like the ones in the stories that Tanaka used to tell them, Miu concluded that Nohara Rin was a goddess. She was one of the gods and goddesses that once roamed the Earth. There were many types of those gods and goddesses—some were kind, some were evil while some were somewhere in between—but Miu already knew what Rin-sama was.

A warrior goddess—the divine protector for the weak.

So, Miu started tailing Rin everywhere, as much as she was allowed to, without being a bother to any of the busy shinobi surrounding Rin.

Tailing Rin got Miu to closely acquaint herself with Konan.

If Rin-sama was a goddess, then, Konan-sama was an angel—the great general of the angels in black, because there was no other way for Miu to describe the intimidating woman.

It was a bit scary at first—despite she has once been carried by this woman—but unlike the soft beauty that her goddess possessed, the general’s beauty was sharper. Her delicate porcelain face was sharpened with the unyielding curl of her violet-painted lips. The wisdom in her amber gaze carried the truth of her words, convincing Miu that everything will get better soon. Her voice was stern, carrying no room for disobedience or nonsense, which only aided her duties as the general for their new king with how quick she managed the new Ame, reconstructing their broken country from the mess their previous king has left behind.

Miu looked up the general with wide awed eyes, often wondering if a civilian like her could ever reach her level, to be able to stand at ease by the side of the king and the gods.

Tailing Rin also got Miu to be in close range with the _saviour_.

This one also didn’t feel like a normal human.

Strange. He was so strange. Miu couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, but unlike the devastating power radiating from her goddess, the saviour didn’t exactly flaunt his power out in the open like that. He was more reserved in flaunting his power, concealing his presence in that fascinating shinobi way, so much so that sometimes, not even the new king could sense him.

But Miu knew that he was powerful—even more than her goddess, in fact.

She was awake that night after all. She couldn't sleep in the death house, worrying over her sick mother when the dark night suddenly turned bright with crackling white lightning. She was able to find a stool quick enough so that she could stretch on her toes and looked out the window just in time to see the silhouette of a white wolf tore through the dark clouds. She remembered staring in horrified awe, feeling that ancient fear growing in her heart upon hearing his piercing howl—the fear for the divine, her mother has whispered when the saviour left them alone after his routine check-up rounds—because even if the saviour still felt close like a human when he was concealing his power, Miu knew that this person carried the power of the gods.

But she also viewed him as a somewhat cute nii-chan.

 _Spirit of Peace._ Hope of mankind. _Saviour_.

The adults called him with so many different names, yet, he seemed at his most content when the kids tentatively called him Sakuto-nii.

Miu would always remember the crinkles of those mismatched eyes, the genuine amused warmth in his voice when he healed the little scratches she and her friends had after a whole afternoon playing in the trees. She appreciated his impromptu self-defence lessons, grateful that he didn’t scold her even when it was within his rights to do so as she was the one sneaking into the shinobi training arena that he was supervising. She appreciated his kindness for showing her how to defend herself, even without having chakra like the shinobi.

She clung to his words that she would do great with a naginata, that she has a talent in it, if she ever wanted to pick up a weapon on her own once she was older.

Miu’s a civilian.

No one ever told a civilian that they have the talent in fighting, not when they have shinobi to compete against.

No one ever did.

His kindness made it so easy for Miu to view him as the elder brother she has lost long before she was born—someone that Miu willingly idolised and tried to imitate.

Though, if asked, she will still claim Setsu-nii as her favourite brother, because she couldn’t possibly choose between the saviour and the god. Both of them would pout and sulk if she (or any other children in Ame, for all that mattered) chose one over the other, so she better let them both lost as she opted for the safest option.

Regardless, being familiar with both the saviour and the goddess has brought her closer to _god._

Some of the angels in black have tried to correct her—tried to convince her that Obito-sama was just a shinobi, a _human_ like the rest of them—but she heeded them no mind. The general and the advisor have tried to change her mind, though the king seemed to give up right after meeting her gaze.

Miu didn’t fall for their lies at all.

She might be young and gullible, but these angels couldn’t hide the god from her. Not when everyone already knew who was behind the blessing on Ame’s land.

They couldn’t hide the fact that there was a god walking among them on this land.

Once upon a time ago, Miu used to pray every night—hoping for her mother to heal, praying for the sun to shine on Ame, desperately begging for _god_ to bless their wetland with something that could grow here—because she was sick of witnessing her friends dying one by one, with their ribs visible beneath their skin, failing to survive on the bare minimum of rations that their king distributed.

The shinobi needed to eat well after all. They were the one doing the work for the nation. They were the backbone that served the king’s ambition. They were far more important to deserve good food.

Civilian like her only get the leftover scraps because they weren’t as useful as the shinobi.

When the Earth trembled and threw tantrum beneath their feet, it didn't only remove her momma from the death house, but it also gifted them with trees and plants that bloomed in their harsh wetland. It was a blessing disguised as a disaster. A test for mortals like her, to test whether she could see the silver lining behind the destruction, to see if she was capable to realise the good beneath the bad, to see if she would be appreciative enough to pay her gratitude to the one that blessed them all.

The first taste of fresh peach on her tongue was so heavenly that Miu almost sobbed.

She has never had the chance to eat so freely, without worrying over her meal tomorrow.

This blessing could be temporary, because the rain has yet to pick up on its old unforgiving force, but no one was worrying over it. Instead, the adults were perfectly calm at facing such a prospect. They had a plan for it, Momma has assured her, but being a young child as she was, Miu wasn't included in the discussion.

All that she knew was that the adults were packing up, gathering and storing whatever resources they have on hands, as if they were preparing for massive migration.

 _“We’re going to a safer place,”_ Momma has answered when Miu asked her. _“An abandoned land, once so rich and powerful but now a forgotten relic of the past. We’re going there to rebuild our nation and revive their legacy.”_

It made Miu felt a little bit sad, because this was the land that so many of her friends have died.

In fact, there were pretty trees on the place where her friends took their last breath—a well-deserved marker for the graves of forgotten children—and to think that they were about to leave all of these behind has made Miu a bit disheartened.

She didn’t want to leave her friends behind.

She didn’t want to forget them.

Miu was sulking over this under the silver tree when she first had a conversation with the god.

He has approached her that afternoon, still hobbling on his crutches as he sat beside her hunched form.

As much as it should be weird for a god to have such flaw, Miu also remembered Tanaka’s stories, and knew that some gods loved to trick mortals like this. It was a test too, because in those stories, those who displayed kindness to the gods while they were in this kind of vulnerable forms would be rewarded.

Not that Miu expected any reward.

Her momma’s alive and recovering. Her tummy was full and sated. Her remaining friends are alive and happy. The adults said that they were heading to a better place and judging from the frequency Sakuto-nii and Yahiko-sama kept on disappearing, she was positive that there was a form of strong defence being organised at the new place. It was said that things grow easier at the new place, and that there were chances for fishing activities.

Miu has never eaten a fish.

She didn’t expect any rewards. She was already content with the blessing that she has.

This god has given enough to her.

Though, when he leant his back against the pitch-black tree and offered her a hug, she gave in, breaking the stoic mask she has put up for her momma to expose her grief to him.

She confided everything to him. Like how she used to clasp her hands and prayed her grievance to the deaf god back then, now she buried her face to his chest and told him _everything_.

Despite the prospect of heading to a better place, she didn’t want to leave her dead friends behind. It scared her to do so, because without the reminder of her friends, she feared that she would eventually forget them, especially if they indeed were going to a better place.

It was such a stupid fear.

But this god _listened_. He listened to every single one of her choked words and responded to her with kindness.

 _“You’re not leaving them behind_ ,” the god has told her with a kind smile. _“A part of them are still alive,_ ” he murmured, tapping her chest once, but was completely evading her curious teary gaze by tilting his head up to stare at the silver canopy shadowing their heads.

_“How?”_

She has asked him then, because perhaps the wisdom of a god made more sense than the reasoning of mortals.

“ _How can I be sure of that?_ ”

The quirk of his smile didn’t match the grief in his eyes, but he answered her with kindness and compassion regardless.

 _“Remember them,”_ he answered, gentle and kind. _“Perhaps it’s the scowl they made whenever you argued. Or the expression they made when they were doing something they’re obsessed with. Or the things they taught you. Or the vulnerable moments you shared together,”_ his eyes softened considerably, and she almost thought she saw tears in his red spinning eyes.

It made Miu wondered—

_Is the god grieving too?_

He didn’t address the glazed sheen of his eyes, but instead pulled her closer into his arms, pressing his cheek on top of her head. _“It could be the tantrum he threw when things didn’t go his way. Could be the way he pouted when both of you were berated for being troublemakers. Could be the way he rolled all over the field when he found a stray puppy. It could even be the general tendency he has to be an insufferable jerk,”_ he hummed, opening her palm with his bigger hands, and placed a fallen silver flower on her palm.

Miu stared at the silver flower, fascinated with the way the petals gleamed under the warm sunlight.

 _“Remember them,”_ the god told her. _“Hold on to their memories to your last breath,”_ he added, lips quirking to a smirk as he lightly tapped the tip of her nose, resuming, _“But never let it hold you back from living your life. Remember the values they taught you, their dreams and hopes—embrace them all as your own, and they shall continue to live on within you. They will not be forgotten.”_

Miu has looked up to meet his red gaze then, but those red has shifted back to pitch black that shone with bittersweet glaze, and the smile that he gave her was more genuine this time—almost accepting in a way.

His words made sense.

If she continued on living for her friends, then they wouldn’t be completely dead. She could grow a garden in their new place, just like how Momo always wanted to do. She could keep Tanaka’s stories alive by passing them on to the younger children. She could keep Haru alive by being kind to everyone as he was. She could keep Madoka’s spirit alive if she remembered what a positive soul Madoka was. She could keep Kaori alive by devouring every single knowledge she could get her little hands on.

Moving away didn’t have to be the end of their stories. It didn't have to mean that they will be forgotten.

Not when she was still alive.

Live. She has to continue on living.

For the sake of her friends, she has to keep on living. Her friends will be the last children of Ame that perished unnoticed.

_They will be the last._

Miu snuggled a little bit closer into his arms, taking advantage of the comfort from the power that he radiated because even though the trees radiated the same sense of comfort and security, it wasn’t as prominent as being directly in his presence. Safe and comforted, Miu gazed up and past the tall gates of the palace, seeing the top of the trees which marked the graves of her friends.

She acknowledged the life that grew from the pain of their deaths, and the grief that struck her this time came wrapped with a fierce determination.

 _My dear friends_ , she vowed.

Miu then cast a determined gaze towards the shinobi training arena.

_You will be the last._

* * *

The vow was the starting point.

A tiny step for a child, but a huge step for _change_.

Miu decided that she was going to survive this world. She was going to fight for her survival. She would keep on living for her deceased friends—that was her vow. Even if she wasn’t a shinobi, there must be a way for her to survive in this world that they shared.

So, she started sneaking into the shinobi arena, taking Sakuto-nii’s words to her heart. She stole a practice naginata when the shinobi was on their break. She practised at the darkest and the most hidden corner of the arena, imitating the kata that she saw the shinobi did in their warm-up sparring. She trained day and night, as much as her weak civilian body could bear, sacrificing her play time in favour of training.

She wasn’t a shinobi. She was weaker than shinobi kids her age. A civilian like her was at the very bottom of the food chain in this world, so she must use everything that she has in order to survive.

It didn’t even take three days before her secret was out.

Perhaps it has been out far earlier, because when she was caught almost stabbing herself with the stolen practice naginata, she was immediately escorted to the main arena. She was expecting to be scolded or executed then. After all, the memories of watching Haru being executed for learning to fight was still fresh in her mind.

It still terrified her.

But instead of a scolding, she was welcomed with open arms by the shinobi in the arena.

None of the disgusted look. No sneers. No mocking leers.

There was only concern mingled with amusement on the shinobi’s faces.

It was surreal.

Then, she was handed over to Setsu-nii and Mari-nee, with the words that she would be training under their supervision.

Miu approached them with caution, shaking like a leave, because for once, she was reminded that they were actual shinobi who has fought in the war.

It didn’t completely register in her mind before, despite both of them being her favourite shinobi and all. Setsu-nii was so miserable that he couldn’t even open his eyes without swearing in pain, while Mari-nee was the nicest medic in the camp that Miu was dubious if the woman could even hurt a fly.

Miu has completely forgotten that Setsu-nii was from the Uchiha clan, the old clan that was infamous for their terrifying kekkei genkai as well as their ancestor, the legendary terror of the First War—Uchiha Izuna. Mari-nee was once an elite Iwa shinobi—the one famed for the ruthlessness of her nation that wouldn’t hesitate to crush children if that was what it would take to complete their mission.

At one point, both of them had been killers and enemies to Ame.

So, this time, Miu approached them with caution.

The caution wasn’t necessary, though.

As she approached them, Setsu-nii wordlessly handed her a smaller naginata—one that was polished sharp and proportioned to her size. Mari-nee smiled and handed her a bunch of scrolls—those of taijutsu and standard non-shinobi medical knowledge. Then, Nagato-sama—their new king—approached her and handed her a set of sturdy outfits that matched the one their esteemed general was currently wearing.

“If you wish to be trained, you need a proper outfit,” the king said, gentle all the way from his smile to his inhuman purple eyes. “This kimono is hardly proper for training purposes.”

Miu almost burst to tears, because never has any civilian before this received the approval from their king to learn to fight. They were forbidden to do so. Their previous king was terrified at the idea that his own people might one day turned on him.

Haru was executed for practising with a kunai he found in the mud.

Madoka was once beaten up because she found a shuriken and accidentally threw it to a shinobi.

Kaori almost died because she found a scroll on basic taijutsu.

They weren’t even allowed the knowledge of proper self-defence before, let alone to have the privilege to be trained alongside the shinobi.

“Also, Sakuto-san has something for you,” the king added, still so gentle as he wiped her tears away. “He is so sorry that he couldn’t give it directly to you, but he has to leave to set up your new settlement,” he smiled and offered a scroll to her. “He hopes you can find this helpful.”

She gingerly opened the scroll, only to gape in awe at the sight of the runes of the gods.

“But—,” Miu stammered—because surely they weren’t mistaking her for a shinobi, right?—as she quickly thrust the scroll back to him. “My lord, sir, I do not have chakra. I can’t possibly use this—”

“You don’t have to have chakra to use it,” Nagato assured, curling her fingers around the scroll, keeping her grip firm on the paper. “It isn’t as powerful as the ones that shinobi could use, but there was once a nation so powerful with their seals that they created a way for their civilian to use their famed seals just like their shinobi.”

Miu gaped and stared down at the scroll, seeing the hand-written instructions and diagrams.

“I can do this?” she squeaked. “Like shinobi do?”

“Only if you practice hard,” Nagato nodded.

Miu gaped.

Trust.

This was a trust so rarely given to civilians.

She wasn’t going to disappoint them.

“Shame that Uzushio was gone and forgotten,” someone commented, but Miu wasn’t exactly listening, still fascinated with the runes she never thought she would be capable to wield. “They treated everyone as equals.”

“Not for long,” Nagato-sama hummed. “Uzushio wouldn’t stay dead for long.”

She barely acknowledged him, too fascinated with the runes on her scroll.

Such a strange knowledge. Strange, yet so very fascinating. So many combinations, so many possibilities to explore, so many things to create.

Kaori would love to explore this, if she was still alive.

Well, that just mean that Miu was the one who needs to master this to honour Kaori’s memories.

So Miu sat on the ground, surrounded by her new naginata and her scrolls with Setsu-nii and Mari-nee close enough that she didn’t have to move if she has questions to ask, as she completely immersed herself in the knowledge that was gifted to her. The world faded around her. The king’s voice was a mere background noise now. Miu's concentration was fully on the runes in her scroll.

“Ah, I guess you’re right,” that person commented again, a fleeting background noise to Miu’s ears. "Your scary-ass cousin and her mate is in it too. It’s inevitable now.”

The king chuckled.

“Well, it’s about time we revive our lost legacy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's hyped for Uzushio's revival?


	20. Put a claim on it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been toying with the inclusion of the new character in this chapter for a while now. At one point, I want him dead, but after posting the scrapped scenes, some of you said it will be cool if he is alive after all.
> 
> Then, I remembered what I planned for the founders and my brain went, yep, he needs to be alive.
> 
> Annnddd...Trigger warning? Someone is gonna go through bad flashbacks.

* * *

“YOU IDIOT!!”

Obito clicked his tongue in disagreement—because he was perfectly innocent and has done _nothing_ wrong to deserve Isobu-Rin’s voice being screamed to his face this early in the morning—all the while making sure his chiding intention was delivered even against Rin’s disapproving glare.

Predictably, she was unfazed with his wordless argument. Even more predictably, she chose to reach out for his poor vulnerable cheeks instead.

Ha! Old technique. Such a predictable reaction. She has been doing that ever since they were _five,_ so he has enough experience to evade this—

—if only he was fast enough.

Which he was not. Not with the aches and sharp pain that still lingered over his right side.

“Rin!” Obito yowled, grimacing against the ruthless hands that were pinching his cheeks. “Owww, owww, owww, Rin, let go! Injured! I’m still injured! Owww—!”

“Oh,” Sakuto’s lazy voice drawled out, so incredibly petty even through that one syllable. “ _Now_ , he realised that he is injured. Fantastic. How _convenient_.”

God damn it, why must Sakuto be so damn petty?

That, and Obito was totally not liking the idea that Sanbi has made Rin so much faster than before.

“No,” she growled at him, pinning his left side with her knee and elbow, but thankfully only opted to cage his right side, keeping him pinned without actually aggravating his injuries. “You asshole. You reckless, suicidal asshole.”

Sanbi also has made her far stronger than she was before.

Obito totally did not enjoy how unfair this situation was becoming.

“I didn’t do anything!” he whined, blinking his eyes in what he hoped to look like a miserable sad puppy that deserved all the sympathy in the world. “What did I do to deserve this?”

Really! What did he do to deserve this?!

“Jumping between a literal monsters’ brawl,” Sakuto’s voice floated from somewhere in the background, sounding almost smug and satisfied. “While having a major injury at that.”

Obito tried to fight Rin’s grip so that he could tilt his head and send a glare to that petty jerk.

They could have had a perfectly peaceful breakfast instead of _this_ if Sakuto didn’t open his big mouth and finally informed Rin of what Obito had to do to pull her out of her rampage.

“Charming me to aid your suicidal plan,” Nagato piped in, his voice was so calm and serene that if Obito wasn’t paying attention, he would’ve missed the pure amusement in that voice. “Not cool, Obito.”

Oh, hell no.

“YOU AGREE TO IT!” Obito yelled, because there was no way in hell he was the sole criminal for that one.

“I was charmed,” Nagato deadpanned.

“WILLINGLY!”

“You also seemed to not realise what you have done,” Konan hummed pleasantly. “You almost give poor Sakuto-san a heart attack,” she sighed, giving a pointed gaze in Rin’s direction. “Disappointing, isn’t he, Rin?”

“Disappointing didn’t even cover it,” Rin growled, responding in almost the next second. “Idiot jerk,” she hissed straight to his face.

Obito was mildly offended.

He stopped her from destroying a whole nation and this was what he got? This? This? Getting called names? He got _this_?

He thought Kakashi was the only one who has this bratty behaviour but apparently he was mistaken. Both of his siblings were ungrateful little brats, god damn it.

Konan clicked her tongue.

“Ah, pardon me, Rin-chan. Obito-kun is such a reckless asshole that _‘disappointing’_ totally couldn’t describe his idiocy.”

Yahiko burst out laughing. Nagato snorted his tea the wrong way in. Fuwa barked in agreement.

Obito glared at the puppy.

_Traitor._

He then sent a deadly scowl at Konan.

He totally did not need Konan cheering Rin on now, _please._ Konan fed so many dangerous ideas into Rin’s head ever since they were introduced that it wasn’t even funny.

It was pure terror, actually.

Whoever that introduced Rin to Konan needed to be executed.

Oh, wait. That was him.

He was the one who introduced them, with the hope that the presence of another beta who has experienced a similar situation as her would help with Rin's anxiety.

He was the one who created this duo of terror.

_Fuck._

“Come on!” he whined, because he would not fall victim to his own sister.

By right, he was the oldest of their pack, and should have that elder sibling’s privilege against her. Where is the respect he should receive as the eldest? This is ridiculous.

“You’re all exaggerating—"

“I was sure I had a heart attack,” Sakuto lamented, unnecessarily loud as Rin’s grip on Obito’s cheeks tightened for each of his words. “I’m only seventeen, yet you give me a heart attack and make my hair grow grey.”

“YOU HAIR IS NATURALLY GREY, ASSHOLE.”

Sakuto made a chiding noise. _“Silver_ ,” he argued.

“This is bullshit—” Obito gritted out, still struggling against Rin, because damn she was far stronger than the last time they had a spar.

His cheeks were officially numb by this point. Numb. Numb. He couldn’t feel his own cheeks. Rin was killing his cheeks. Help.

“A heart attack, Obito,” Sakuto whimpered, exaggerating a wounded tone. “In the middle of a battle against a rampaging Sanbi. Why must you do that to me, Obito?”

The nerve of this asshole.

“Sakuto, you drama king—"

Rin cut his words off before he could finish it, though.

“You could have died, Obi.”

It was a whisper. Soft words, yet they were resoundingly loud with the fear and terror trembling within his link with her mind.

Obito lost all of his determination to argue for his own defence when Rin’s wrath deflated.

“Rin,” he sighed, staring up to her face, feeling helpless and so very guilty as she broke apart. “Hey,” he called, wriggling his right arm free to cup her cheek. "Rin, hey."

 _I’m sorry,_ he told her. _It was stupid._

She sniffled, succumbing into the unstable grief and anxiety she has been suffering for the past two weeks, lowering her face to rest against his chest.

_“That was the worst kind of suicidal **stupid,** moron.” _

With that mental retort, Rin collapsed entirely, the pressure of her elbow and her knee on his left side was alleviated and been replaced with her collapsing weight.

Unlike her mad yelling earlier, the little sniffles on his chest worked more against him.

“I could’ve killed you, Obito.”

Obito swallowed, feeling her fear beyond her words.

 _I’m sorry,_ his mind voiced.

“I’m sorry,” his mouth echoed.

Rin sobbed, trembling in fear.

Her fear was prominent from her tight grip on his shirt, the wet spot of tears she left at the front of his shirt. Her fear traversed through his mind, showcasing the dark cloud that haunted her sleep for the past week. It was the very same fear that made Rin woke almost every hour to check on him in his room every night. It was the one that made Rin panic every time he so much went out of her sight, even when the only thing that he did was just hanging out under Kakashi’s memorial tree with the kids.

Rin was scared of losing him again.

“I could’ve killed you,” she sobbed.

Silence.

“I could’ve killed you and your blood will be on my hands for the rest of my life.”

The good humour floating around their table vanished almost instantly, like fire being snuffed out by the harsh wind, and was replaced with the air of solemnity. Nagato has gone deathly silent, his trembling hands curled around his teacup with force strong enough to crack it. He only loosened his grip on the breaking cup when Yahiko reached out for his hands—fearful purple meeting apologetic brown—and Nagato immediately deflated, his shoulders slouched in the same way as Rin was.

Obito cradled Rin closer into his embrace.

Konan leant closer to rest her head on Nagato’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” said Obito and Yahiko—a soft plea for forgiveness.

_Sorry for putting you in that position._

Rin whimpered.

_“I could’ve killed you. Isobu and I—we’re not the best with our grief, Obito.”_

Obito hushed her, wincing upon realising how loud her sobs were in the silent room.

It took a while for all five of them to notice that the room wasn’t entirely silent.

The harsh quick breathing was the one that snapped Obito to attention first.

“Sakuto-san?” Konan beat him in addressing the oddness, though.

Sakuto didn’t respond. Instead, his breathing only got faster.

Mildly concerned with the pace Sakuto seemed to be breathing right now, Obito gathered Rin into his arms, assuring one last _“I’m sorry”_ with a kiss on her forehead and keeping her in the cradle of his embrace as he guided her to return to their table. Nagato, Yahiko and Konan were exchanging concerned glances, but neither of them opened their mouth to further address Sakuto’s increasing breathing pace.

“Sakuto?” Obito asked, because all joking aside, this was beyond concerning.

Sakuto was _hyperventilating_. His breathing pace was short and quick, his mismatched eyes were wild and unfocused while his whole body racked with violent trembles. Obito’s sharingan activated almost on instinct, sweeping across the room just in case if there was an attack while they were distracted.

There was nothing that seemed out of place.

Yet, Sakuto suddenly started breathing in short pained gasps.

It was so bad that they all feared to touch him, just in case if it would end up even worse.

Obito observed Sakuto’s face, taking notes on the emotions that so openly traversed through his face as the older teen brought his shaky hands up. Sakuto stared at his own hands with widened tears-glazed eyes, as if those hands were the most horrifying thing he has ever seen.

It reminded Obito of Kamui that they now shared, of the loose clothes that seemed more like they belonged to a grown man rather than a teen, of the bright orange mask that didn’t seem to fit Sakuto’s personality at all—of the probability that before the activation of his own Mangekyou, Sakuto has once shared Kamui with someone else.

Whoever that person was, Sakuto truly loved them.

Obito has enough information to conclude _that_ at least.

He still has so many questions about their shared pocket universe, but there were fear and guilt in Sakuto’s mismatched eyes and that was far more important to address than his own curiousity. It was the familiar fear and guilt that matched Rin’s own nightmares now. The very ones that made Minato refused to come and visit him. The same fear and guilt that he once sensed from behind the mental walls that Kakashi has put up.

Fear of losing. Guilt for hurting.

_Who have you lost?_

Obito didn’t ask that out loud.

Instead, he tangled his fingers with Rin’s trembling ones—a clear assurance for her that he was still here, alive and safe—and tentatively wrapped his other hand around Sakuto’s wrist, pulling the older teen straight into his arms once he was sure that Sakuto wouldn’t get worse.

If he failed to save Kakashi from his own suppressed emotions, the least he could do now was to try to save Kakashi’s long-lost elder brother from the very same thing.

Obito observed Sakuto as both of them melted into his embrace, taking mental notes on the way Sakuto shakily reached out for Rin’s hands, as if holding her hands were a reminder that kept him afloat from whatever memories of his hidden past that were pulling him down.

It was interesting to observe.

Sakuto was getting even harder to decipher the more Obito got to know him.

Getting to know Sakuto was like digging a hole. The more he discovered, the more he took out, the deeper the mystery underneath would be.

It caused Obito to _want_ to dive straight into that hole and unravel Sakuto’s mystery.

Though, he kept his mouth shut for now, rocking both of the trembling mess of a human in his arms, blanketing them with the scent of comfort. He squeezed Sakuto’s shoulders with a silent hope for the trembling to stop and tilted his head to kiss the top of Rin’s head once the fear faded from her mind.

 _Mine,_ Obito thought grimly.

He backtracked almost instantly, because as much as it made a perfect sense that he thought of Rin as his—because she has been his for the past nine years—Sakuto was a completely unexpected inclusion. He did not intend to include Sakuto at all.

But apparently, his mind has decided to stake a claim on the older teen too.

In the weirdest way possible, it felt like Sakuto was filling in the gap Kakashi has left, but at the same time was making his own room in Obito’s thoughts too.

_Mine._

It was a single word of fierce possession.

A promise that he didn’t plan, yet he would never reject.

His grandmother raised him to trust his instinct after all. The instinct was there for a reason. It was born into their blood since thousand of years ago as a part of them. Abandoning the instinct would be like abandoning his own self. If the ancient instinct sleeping within him deemed Sakuto as his own, then Sakuto was his—just like Rin and Kakashi.

His to protect. His to nurture. His to care for. His to love.

He didn’t get to ponder more though, because the very next second, Sakuto inhaled a sharp breath right against his chest, body tensing up like a stretched band that was about to snap.

“Sakuto-san?” Rin asked, squeezing the hands that were grasping her own, voice laced with concern.

Sakuto snapped.

* * *

There was blood on his hands.

Red, sticky and warm blood that trickled down his fingers.

Rin’s blood. Still warm. Perhaps just like her corpse too, if he has the guts to even touch her corpse.

“Sakuto, stop,” someone said, sounding oddly familiar, but Kakashi wasn’t listening.

 _“Kakashi-sensei,”_ another voice called out, equally concerned despite coming from inside his own head. _“Sensei, please. Stop.”_

Huh. Why was the voice in his head sounded like a teenage girl? Weird.

Not important though.

He needed to wash his hands. That was more important. Wash this blood off. Need to wash it off.

_Water. Need to clean up. Where is the damn sink?_

_“Kaka-sensei!”_

Sensei? No. No. He is a fresh jounin. He wasn’t qualified yet to be a teacher. He wasn’t _old_ enough to be a teacher. Who in their right mind would make an eleven-year-old a teacher?

Not he wanted to, though. He would never be a teacher.

_“Kakashi. Breathe. Come on—”_

That definitely sounded like a boy. Not his voice, but hey, it was still in his head.

What the fuck was wrong with his brain. Ugh. He was so fucked up that even his brain couldn’t decide to use his own voice.

_“Sensei, please—” “Kaka-sensei, please.”_

Oh. There were two of them?

Eh, no.

No. No. No. 

_Three._ The was another voice. The deeper one.

He’s so fucked up that he has _voices_ in his head. _Fantastic._

Not to mention that the voices of his mind were bat-shit drunk.

He didn’t need to be reminded to breathe. He can do that involuntarily. Who the hell needed a reminder to breathe?

What he needed was to wash Rin’s blood away.

_Water. Water. Water. Need to wash the blood away._

He finally found his water, right there on the table. Good. Now he could wash this blood off. Perhaps he wouldn’t be reminded of Rin if he washed it off. So, he reached out for the container and started washing his hands.

The blood didn’t wash off. It was still there, on his hands, a taunting reminder of his crime.

His hands felt hot, though.

Was it because of Rin’s blood?

“SAKUTO!”

Was human’s blood always _this_ hot?

Kakashi didn’t have the time to ponder.

The water container in his hand fell onto the table with a clang as he was pulled back. Hands were quick to grab a hold of his shoulders—they wrapped over each side of chest and curled around his shoulder, keeping him still—while there was something fluttering shackling his torso, keeping him away from his water. Smaller hands wrapped around his wrists, forcing his hands still.

Kakashi vaguely sensed someone bursting into a sunshin.

Why were they stopping him? Didn’t they see that this blood needs to be washed off?

“Bad?” the guy at his right murmured, grip not loosening by one bit.

“Yeah.”

Kakashi wriggled his wrists, desperate to be freed because he really needed to wash Rin’s blood away. He couldn’t keep going like this. The longer her blood was on his hand, the more he felt his own sanity slipping. He tried to squirm free, but the ones who were pinning his shoulders were unyielding, the fluttering butterflies shackling his torso and limbs only tightened their hold around him, while the one that was holding his wrist refused to let go.

There was a flicker of chakra, and the hands that were holding his wrists were replaced with a pair of smaller and softer one.

“Sakuto.”

Kakashi blinked, looked up from his hands, only to freeze upon meeting familiar brown eyes.

_Rin._

“Breathe for us, Sakuto,” she said—stern, firm and _alive_. Her hands were warm over his wrists, while her voice was tentative and concerned. _“Please_ ,” she added, almost desperate.

Kakashi blinked again, disoriented and confused as his gaze wandered around the room. Why was Rin alive? Where were they? Weren't they on a mission? At the lake?

What happened?

Then, the pain registered into his mind, the fog cleared up by a tiny bit, and the world started to make sense again.

Kakashi winced once he realised that the blood that was dripping from his hands were his own. His knee-jerk reaction was to pull his hands away, but Rin’s grip was almost impossible to fight, her eyes flashed with a tinge of pink.

Which was weird.

Rin shouldn’t be _that_ strong. She shouldn’t have this kind of overbearing suffocating chakra and inhuman strength either.

Kakashi cast a confused look around, taking note of the broken ceramics and glasses scattered around the table, the spilt food over the tatami and the dented copper kettle.

_What happened?_

He was sure that they were having a heart-warming moment earlier.

But Rin was holding his wrists with vice-tight grip even as she started pulling the glass shards out, Konan’s paper butterflies wrapped around his torso like a sturdy chain while both Yahiko and Nagato were each holding him still by the shoulders. Obito hovered behind Rin, sharingan already spinning as they scrutinised the burn blisters and fresh wound on Kakashi’s palms.

“What,” Kakashi blurted out, honestly so confused.

“You with us, buddy?” Obito asked, sounding utterly nervous.

Kakashi wasn't sure what Obito meant with that.

Obito eventually knelt by Rin’s side, brushing his knuckles up Kakashi’s left arm, and warmth spread from his touch—the comforting kind of warmth, the one that felt like how his father used to hug, the kind of warmth that his pups radiated whenever he crashed into the bijuu plane.

Comfort.

It was _comfort_ that spread from Obito’s touch and seeped into his bones.

Obito’s hand stopped right at the spot where his ANBU tattoo used to be, holding his arm firmly there. Shuddering, Kakashi leant into the touch, barely realising the little smile that grew on Obito's face.

“Can I hold you, Sakuto?”

Confused, Kakashi gingerly nodded.

Nagato and Yahiko cautiously let go of his shoulders while Rin manoeuvred his bleeding hands slightly to the side to give room for Obito to pull him in. It was an awkward position for a hug, because his hands were still trapped in Rin’s grip, but Obito somehow made it worked. Standing on his knees, Obito looped his arms around Kakashi’s neck and shoulders, securely holding him in place. One of his hand then trailed up from his shoulder blades up to his neck, toying with the loose strands of the ponytail at the nape before Obito moved his hand up to rest at the back of Kakashi’s head.

Obito then tucked Kakashi’s head right against his neck, keeping him in place by resting his chin on top of the silver spiky bangs.

It was a pure assault on his senses.

Kakashi was overwhelmed. It felt like his sense of smell was sent on pure overdrive, overwhelmed with that sweet inviting scent but in the same time was distracted in the needs to burrow himself in the more subtle, familiar scent of fresh leaves and spring beneath the sweetness. It was both a temptation and comfort. On one hand, he was tempted to press his nose against the slight bump by Obito’s neck, needing to take in as much as the sweetness as possible but in the same time he wanted to curl against Obito’s chest, desperate for the familiar comforting scent of Konoha and _home_ to blanket him.

“You _are_ suicidal _,_ aren’t you?” he heard Konan’s voice commented from somewhere in the background.

Obito chuckled, his hand that was pressed on Kakashi's head slid down to comb through the long tresses of the silver ponytail, pulling the elastics off in the process.

It felt oddly nice—to have someone play with his hair like that.

“Risk-taker is a better term,” Obito responded.

Rin made a displeased noise. There was a loud slap, followed by Obito’s equally loud yelp.

“Ow,” he complained. “What was that for?”

“ _Idiot_ ,” Rin spat back. “One of these days, it is going to bite you in the ass and I’m not going to help you, Obi,” she hissed. “I’m going to sit at the sidelines with Isobu and Konan, eating dango, and we're going to _laugh_ at you.”

Kakashi has no idea at all regarding the context of their banter.

But dear Kami-sama and everything that was holy, he was too blissed and content right here that he wouldn’t even bother. It felt oddly good to snuggle up to his old friend.

Obito let out a dramatic sigh.

“Assholes. I have assholes as my siblings. You and Kakashi, _both,_ ” he complained, tucking Sakuto closer against his body. “Fuck you two, I’m adopting Sakuto now.”

That made Kakashi jerked, taken completely off guard.

_Siblings?_

_“Siblings?”_ the mixed confused voice of his students echoed.

 _“Hold the fuck up,”_ Sasuke hissed. _“I thought Obito is crushing on Rin. Like, the **romantic** kind of crush.”_

 _“Literally that was the reason he went all supervillain last time,”_ Naruto added. _“And now, they’re siblings??”_

There was a beat of silence, before Sakura finally piped in.

 _“You know what? I don’t even want to know,”_ she huffed, and Kakashi almost had a vivid imagery of Sakura crinkling her nose. _“By the way, your hands are still bleeding, sensei. Aren't you hurt?”_

Right after Sakura brought up his hands, Kakashi started to notice the slightly uncomfortable sting of his hands as the glass pieces that were embedded in his skin was carefully being extracted out.

It wasn't painful. Just normal stings. He hardly noticed it, but when he did notice it, it felt odd.

Kakashi found himself to sink deeper into Obito's embrace to dull the discomfort.

“Don’t blame us,” Rin retorted with a snap, and Kakashi frowned at the slightly more uncomfortable sting on his palms when Rin's grip tightened on his hand. “We have a suicidal idiot as our eldest. Being assholes is a necessary survival skill.”

“I’m disowning you, Rin.”

Rin snorted, smoothing her hands over Kakashi’s palms, chakra weaving to stitch the open skin together before she finally let his wrists go. She probably rolled her eyes too, but Kakashi was already comfortable right here against Obito that he didn't exactly want to move. Instead, he curled in Obito’s arms, tentatively reached his freshly healed hands to loop around his friend’s waist.

Obito didn’t seem to mind though.

“Aren’t you listening, Rin? I’m disowning you and adopting Sakuto,” Obito said, cradling Kakashi closer as if he was responding to Kakashi's tentative hug. “You’re mine now, Sakuto,” he crooned affectionately, before shifting to a completely dismissive tone as he added, “You’re mine, and Rin can go play somewhere else now.”

Rin must have rolled her eyes so hard because Kakashi could sense it without even looking at her.

Then, the full meaning of Obito’s words finally hit him.

It was impossible to stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks.

_“Oh, my.”_

Naturally, Sasuke the evil reincarnate wouldn’t miss out from teasing him.

 _“He chose you over his crush. Aww, that was so sweet,”_ the brat crooned. _“Congratulations on your marriage, Kakashi.”_

Kakashi was going to slap that asshole brat.

Though, before he could enter the bijuu plane and gave Sasuke what the brat truly deserved, there was a burst of chakra coming from Nagato, or more specifically, the three-pronged kunai that the red-haired has quickly taken out from his sleeves. Two more people joined their ruined breakfast, one was way too cheerful for this time of the morning.

“GOOD MORNING, MY CUTE LITTLE COUSIN!”

Cue Nagato’s choked gasp when he was tackled onto the floor by the hyperactive ball of red.

“Good morning to you too, Kushina-nee,” Nagato greeted pleasantly—not as hyper, but his grip on Kushina’s arm was as tight as Kushina’s grip on his shoulders.

“Kushina, Nagato is not that much younger than us—,” Minato sighed, edging around his hyperactive mate, only to freeze the moment his gaze landed on Obito.

Kakashi almost thought that Minato froze because he still wasn’t ready to meet Obito yet.

He wasn’t expecting the spike of defensive chakra as his former teacher lunged at him, separating him away from Obito. Minato crouched in front of Obito, looking like he was shielding Obito from Kakashi, and although his expression wasn’t entirely hostile, it was obvious that Minato was gearing up for a fight.

It made Kakashi anxious for a fight too.

“Obito, you’re okay—?”

“Sensei, what?” Obito frowned, shifting his gaze back and forth between Kakashi and Minato before his eyes widened and his lips parted opened with a soft, “Oh.”

Obito flushed to a light pink tint.

Minato’s eyes narrowed.

“Obito…”

“It isn’t like that—!”

Rin snorted. “You practically staked a claim on him, Jerkbito.”

“I DID NOT.”

“You did, though,” Konan chirped in.

“You did,” Yahiko added with a grin, seemingly like he was enjoying the way their breakfast has gone down. “You staked a claim.”

“Come on! It is not _that_ kind of claim!”

“Still a claim,” Nagato hummed. “Give it a few years and it can turn into _that_ kind of claim.”

“It won’t happen if it is not mutual!”

“You two look pretty cosy cuddling up to one another earlier,” Konan interjected, offering a bowl of clean water to Rin.

“ _Extremely_ cosy,” Rin added dryly, rinsing her hands in the bowl and gave a grateful smile to Konan. “It was like you forget that we’re here too.”

The pink of Obito’s face darkened.

On the other hand, Kakashi was very, very confused.

And Minato noticed.

Blue eyes widened as Minato’s whole posture relaxed, easing Kakashi’s own tension and subduing the natural shinobi instinct to prepare for a fight. He resisted the urge to be defensive when Minato reached a hand to rest on his shoulder, but Minato must have noticed something else, because the man’s whole expression softened the moment he met Kakashi’s gaze.

Kakashi missed his old mask.

He honestly felt so vulnerable and naked without that piece of clothing.

“Sakuto,” Minato started, gentle and slow, like that time he tried to console Kakashi after Sakumo’s death—like he was speaking to a clueless child. “Do you have any idea on what they’re talking about?”

Well, he wasn't expecting _that_ question.

 _“To be honest, we’re kinda clueless though,”_ Naruto commented. 

Kakashi whole-heartedly agreed.

_“I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD’VE STUDIED OBITO WHILE WE CAN.”_

Kakashi didn’t agree with that.

_Sakura, NO._

Thus, he reprimanded her, before shifting his attention back to the real world and slowly shook his head.

“No.” 

The whole room (minus Minato) froze and stared at him with disbelief.

“Nothing?” Yahiko asked, voice edging a bit high-pitched. “You understand _nothing_ at all? Claim? Mark? Bond?”

“Uh,” Kakashi swallowed, honestly thought that those words weren’t related in any way whatsoever. “No?”

There was a beat of silence.

Then;

“Fuck,” Kushina cussed. “I owe Gaku a specialised seal.”

Minato buried his face to his palm and sighed— _miserably._

* * *

It felt nice to return to action.

Despite the deep slash he made on his own hitai-ate, despite the fact that his partner now was a former enemy, despite the unfamiliar muddy train of Ame—Setsuna was grateful to return to the field.

“Don’t push yourself too much, Uchiha.”

Even with this kind of overbearing partner.

“I’m not weak, _Iwa,”_ he snapped.

Even if he was a little bit bitter against the woman, considering that she was a part of the elite squad that almost killed Obito.

It was good to return to the field.

His partner went silent after that. Her scent soured a bit, and as much as it made him felt bad that he upset her, it did make him breathe a little bit easier.

He has almost forgotten how tempting a female omega would smell like.

It was easier with Obito, since they both shared interests in training. Obito was honest and straight-forward, making it easier to plan a courting because Obito would answer with honesty if asked. He was so easy to read too, so unlike the rest of the village, which somehow managed to agree to speak in riddles and expected everyone to understand what they meant.

Didn’t matter which clan, or which dynamic—Konoha’s citizen enjoyed confusing a prospective partner by speaking in weird riddles and innuendoes.

Also, not to mention the hints they kept on dropping and Setsuna kept on missing. It was confusing, so much so, that his early romantic endeavours always ended up as a failure.

So, when the elders announced that Obito was eligible to court, Setsuna has jumped right in the competition.

(Somewhere at the back of his mind, he considered that it wasn't fair for this decision was made for Obito, considering how young he was. Obito didn't have any say in that announcement, and the only people who spoke for him were outnumbered by democracy. Mikoto and Fugaku both have their hands tied by democracy. The Sandaime has no power in the internal affairs of Uchiha clan. There were also rumours that threat has been sent from the loudest voice that argued for Obito, but that old man couldn’t always remain in Konoha to make sure that his demand was fulfilled, and the elders took advantage of that.)

Regardless, Setsuna has been devoting his attention to Obito throughout these years that he has forgotten how his previous romantic endeavours were like. He has completely forgotten that a female omega was no less tempting than the male one.

Whoever that partnered him with Mari definitely hated him or has a terrible sense of humour.

Though, in hindsight, it wasn’t fair for her at all. She defected from Iwa. Just like him, she was no longer affiliated to her former village. It wasn’t fair to send her his resentment, considering that Sakuto has greeted her with gratitude when they met, thanking her for risking her own life to make sure that Obito could survive in one piece.

This woman turned against her own people, putting her own life at stakes to ensure Obito’s survival.

It wasn’t fair for her to be at the receiving end of his resentment.

“I have a name, you know.”

Setsuna winced.

Yes, she has a name. He knew that.

_Mari._

Which seemed fitting, really. He has seen the kanji she used for her name.

 _Love_ and _white jasmine_.

The reason she defected from Iwa—love for a fellow omega—and white jasmine, the prominent scent she was emitting.

Setsuna quirked a tiny smirk.

She really didn’t deserve his resentment

“Okay, Airi,” he said teasingly.

The kanji can be read like that too.

“You’re reading my name wrong,” naturally she retorted almost the next second. “It’s _Mari_.”

“Airi,” he said, chuckling. “ _Airi._ ”

Setsuna smoothly evaded the shuriken she threw her way.

“Asshole,” she huffed.

But there was a tiny little quirk of a smile on her lips.

The light-hearted air persisted despite the relatively quiet patrol. They made their rounds, disarming foreign traps that were set too close to Ame's borders and making notes of potential warzones to be reported to Konan.

It was agreed that all of the civilians would be taken to Uzushio to reduce the likelihood for them to be war casualties. The world was already aware that Hanzou was overthrown, and Akatsuki has risen to power with Sanbi on their side.

Any time now, there might be an attempt of elimination.

The civilians and younger shinobi would be better off living in Uzushio. Arrangements have been made with the ninken community beneath Uzushio, and Sakuto has set up powerful defensive seals and illusions around the ruins. The civilians would have a higher survival chance living in secrecy over there. The younger shinobi has more time to train over there, as Nagato was firm on keeping his best fighters at Ame.

As for Setsuna and Mari, they have been tasked to supervise the defence of Uzushio.

They will be in charge of regulating defences with the ninken community that lived underneath Uzushio. They will be monitoring the training of the younger shinobi. They will be the main instructors for civilian children who wished to take up the weapon for their new country. Every child who wished to learn, they were obliged to accept and train.

Nagato and Kushina wished to revive the spirit of the lost civilisation of Uzushio.

 _“Uzushio did not discriminate back then,”_ Kushina has said when they proposed this idea to the civilian’s elders. _“We’re not discriminating anyone now.”_

Being the last two pure Uzumaki on Earth, both of them have agreed to share the knowledge of their extinct clan that Sakuto has restored from the ruins.

There will be no discrimination for the knowledge of Uzushio’s seals.

After all, Uzushio was feared back then because their civilian could fight like a shinobi. They were the only shinobi village in the world who has civilians among their ranks of commanders. The only nation whose civilians were equally terrifying as their shinobi colleague. They were the only nation who integrated an equal balance of civilian’s technology and shinobi’s technique in their military. Their power came from the unity and balance between the civilian and the shinobi, and it terrified the bigger nations so much that they have to gang up to eliminate them.

Uzushio will be revived in silence, as the world has its attention on Amegakure.

Thus, as the civilians were getting ready and stocking up resources for the migration, all able-bodied shinobi in Ame was tasked with the duties of making a show for the world. They needed to keep the world's attention on Ame to shield Uzushio from being noticed by anyone. Akatsuki members were sent to recruit selected missing-nin—the ones who were known for betraying their former village for the same purpose as Akatsuki as they shaped Amegakure to become the perfect military village.

Setsuna should’ve known that the rapid change in Ame would attract all kind of attention.

Even from the one he least expected from.

“Uchiha!”

Mari yelled at him, alerting him of the incoming attack. Nice sentiment, but wasn't entirely necessary. He has sensed the sudden appearance of that powerful chakra too, has picked up the beginning of powerful katon by using his sharingan but it still took him off-guard when what that he expected would be a giant fireball actually came at him in the form of a majestic phoenix. The phoenix flew past him like a scorching hot taunt, heading to the sky before it suddenly swooped down towards them both.

Setsuna's next knee-jerk reaction was to protect his partner.

“Mari!”

Protect her, and more importantly, stopped her from attacking.

Not many people were capable to do that fire phoenix. There were only a few recorded shinobi that was capable to do so, and a hell lot of them were from the previous warring generation. Most of them have been long dead now.

 _Most_ of them were dead.

Not all.

Setsuna kept Mari restrained in his arms, keeping her wrists trapped in his grip with a silent hope that she wasn't one of those shinobi that could launch a jutsu without doing a hand sign. They should not be offensive—not against this person—because if they truly antagonised this opponent and made him their enemy, chances are, they would be dead before a second could pass. 

“On a little honeymoon trip, kid? Or you're eloping?” the old man sneered, scenting the air and clearly has picked up on the sweet scent of white jasmine from Mari. “You’re a bit too far from home.”

“I can say the same to you too, Izuna-sama,” Setsuna responded with an unwavering smile, despite the common sense that told him there was no way for this blind old man could see him smile. “I believe your retirement onsen is in the opposite way, sir.”

Izuna grinned.

Yes. This was the most unexpected attention Ame would ever receive.

The most unexpected, and probably the worst kind of attention.

Considering that there were three defectors of Konoha—Obito, Rin and himself—as well as Namikaze, Kushina, Mikoto and Fugaku who frequented Ame as spies, receiving a surprise visit from the late Nidaime's former leadership partner was not exactly good news. Not even Mikoto could squirm her way out of this, considering everyone already aware of how ruthless and clean-cut Uchiha Izuna was. This was the man who wouldn't hesitate to execute his own subordinates if said subordinates decided to flee from the battlefield without receiving any order of retreat.

Izuna has no tolerance for cowards who abandoned their own people. Not even for his own descendants.

Although Izuna has ignored Konoha ever since he stepped down and handed his position to Fugaku, there was no guarantee that the old man was no longer loyal to the village.

“Retirement did these old bones no good,” the old man hummed, posture completely relaxed and at ease. “I decided to travel, instead.”

Of course he would be relaxed. Old as he was, Izuna was perfectly in control of this situation.

“Alone, sir?” Setsuna asked, a poor attempt of stalling for some time.

“It’s easier to hunt pests when you’re alone,” Izuna said solemnly, nose crinkled in distaste. “They think you’re weak and will come straight at you. Easy kill.”

Mari suddenly tensed up in his arms, her gaze fixed on Izuna’s right sleeve. Setsuna followed her gaze, skimming his red-tinted gaze over the faint outline of Izuna’s remaining arm inside the loose sleeve, only to realise that Izuna wasn’t holding a travel pack.

It was someone’s head.

“The Ghost is your ally,” the old man said, his words carried the power of his legendary years, authoritative even with the rasp of his aged voice. “Bring this to him. If he knew what it was, tell him to meet me here by dawn tomorrow.”

With that said, Izuna tossed the decapitated head at their direction.

Mari and Setsuna exchanged a wary glance, but Izuna simply sunshin onto a nearby rock and sat there, calm and serene as if he did not just toss a decapitated head like it was nothing. Mari was the one who reached for the head, eyes widened in fascination upon noticing the bizarre anatomy of the head. She was immediately distracted, fully devoting her attention to inspect the decapitated head.

The pure white skin. The greyish green hair. The odd texture of the white flesh. The unusually rounded teeth. The golden empty eyes. The lack of bones and flesh. The clay-like consistency of the flesh.

_What is this thing?_

Mari didn’t get to ask, because Setsuna has tugged her for a retreat. They only dared to turn their backs towards Izuna once the old man was nothing but a dot in the horizon, and even then, Setsuna has pushed his speed to reach Ame faster. He ignored her even when she pouted at him, but thankfully she kept her silence and didn’t argue, seemingly more distracted with the decapitated head than the fact that they have a literal legend lingering at their borders—a looming uncertainty at their horizon.

It was when they reached the gates of Ame that Mari finally said something.

“Uchiha.”

“What?”

A pause, then a flat deadpan;

“Your clan is full of crazy motherfuckers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Izuna has been real busy ever since he handed the Clan Head mantel to Fugaku. Retiring to the mountain hot spring is just a lame ass excuse for him to finish what his _brothers_ started. He is late nineties by the way.
> 
> I googled the kanji for Mari, and they gave me this 愛莉, which apparently means "love, white jasmine" and can also be read as Airi. So, there goes my other ship, with Setsuna already having a pet name for her. If I have Japanese-speaking reader in here, please forgive me if it was wrong. I legit just took the kanji and the meaning from Google search.
> 
> And Obito, you ain't innocent, you little minx.
> 
> P/s: Friendly reminder that "Slow Burn" is in the tag. Also, Obito is almost healed. He is mostly sore and aching now.
> 
> P.p/s: If only Obito knows that it was his alternate self that shared the Kamui with Sakuto...
> 
> P.p.p/s: I'm low-key thinking of Rin being the Artemis of this universe and instead of ended up with Nagato, she is single her whole life. The twist is that, although she is unmarried/unmated, she has her own harem consisting of all lethal girls of her generation, and that includes Konan, Mei, Anko, Hana, Shizune and they occasionally roped every other hot female in their radar into their ladies' night. Obito almost had a heart attack when he found out. 
> 
> P.p.p.p./s : I watched End Game the other day, and Steve-Bucky is literally Marvel version of KakaObi and I don't know what to do with this sudden realisation.


	21. I want to learn, and you’re too noisy - Sakura, definitely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title : Well, this is awkward (Part 1)
> 
> Here is the first part of utter bullshit that I spew to explain my universe. The long-awaited fun part of the A/B/O dynamic is going to be in the next chapter because I'm too giggly to write that one. 
> 
> (And tired. I'm soo tired. Send me some sleep, please. I can't sleep for the past few days. Not a wink of sleep. Send help.)
> 
> Readers, I researched so many things that I ended up watching a full video of non-censored male-to-female sex reassignment surgery just to get the inspiration for the A/B/O part. I watched a full surgery, without flinching. They cut the dick open to create a vagina. They use the scrotum skin to create the labia. It is both fascinating and gross and I'm pissed that it is not in HD. My muse said that I'm slipping into insanity BUT REAL TALK, WHY THIS KIND OF SURGICAL VIDEOS HAVE SO LITTLE SOURCES? WHY THERE ARE ONLY STUPID VIDEOS ON THE INTERNET NOWADAYS? WHY BACKSTABBING BEAUTY GURUS IS HOT ON YOUTUBE RATHER THAN EDUCATIONAL SURGICAL VIDEOS?? I NEED TO SEE THE FEMALE-TO-MALE VERSION AND THERE IS NONE. NONE.
> 
> AND NO, I'M NOT SLIPPING INTO INSANITY YET. I'M PERFECTLY FINE AND SANE, THANK YOU.
> 
> Anyway, I ended up being too giggly to write Minato explaining female alpha and male omega, so you have to bear with their psychological dynamic in this chapter.
> 
> Be warned; Utter bullshit with some basis of real-life facts is used to explain this AU ahead. Also, it is un-betaed. My mind is so desperate for sleep to be able to properly proofread this one. Maybe once I get a proper sleep I will edit this chapter.

* * *

_So…”_

Kakashi resisted a miserable sigh.

He really wanted to space out for just a brief second, just so that he could enter the bijuu plane and silenced Sasuke before the evil brat could even start a teasing fiesta.

_“On the scale of Mirai to Kaguya, is this a Kaguya-level of catastrophe to you, sensei?”_

That question would have sounded sympathetic if only Kakashi didn’t pick up the amused muffled sniggers that Naruto has failed to hide.

 _Well, fuck you too, Naruto,_ Kakashi thought bitterly.

Sasuke started snickering.

 _Both of you are unhelpful brats,_ Kakashi later added, pettily, just because there was no way to silence Sasuke now even if he managed to space out into the bijuu plane to smack both of these pups up their heads.

Kakashi _felt_ the exact moment Sasuke was about to start teasing.

God damn it.

_"The three of you better shut up now.”_

Thankfully, Sakura swept in for the rescue.

 _“I want to learn, and you’re too noisy,”_ she growled, in a surprisingly good representation of a Hatake’s annoyed non-verbal communication, before ending her complaint with a threat; “ _Or else….”_

Wisely, Naruto and Sasuke both fell into silence.

Kakashi resisted another miserable sigh.

No escapism inside his mind now, but paying attention to the outside world wasn’t something that he wanted to do at this moment either.

“Don’t you two have **_countries_** to run and rebuild?” Minato whined.

It was bizarre to witness, as Kakashi have only the vaguest and unclear memories of Minato being openly whiny and embarrassed. The clearest memory being the day Kushina had a field day teasing Minato as the man struggled to provide a thirteen-years-old Kakashi with the mandatory sex education. Fun time. It definitely eased up the awkwardness on Kakashi's part, but the point still stand; It was rare to see Minato being openly whiny like this.

But there he was, the esteemed Yellow Flash, re-enacting that particular fond memory that just resurfaced from the back of Kakashi’s mind.

Minato pouted Kushina’s direction, cheeks stained with a deep hue of pink when she flirtatiously winked at him. Failed to deter Kushina's persistence, Minato switched his pout to a sulky glare as his gaze landed on Nagato.

"You two have one job," he grumbled. "Go and run your countries. Be productive."

“I think we deserve a break, dear,” Kushina hummed, hooking her arm around Nagato’s. “Ame and Uzushio can wait until the afternoon.”

Minato groaned.

“Can’t I have a break, nii-san?” Nagato added, leaning against Kushina’s shoulder with a soft pleading smile plastered on his face. “Everything is running smoothly and is ahead of the plan. I think we all deserve a lazy, unproductive morning today.”

Kakashi shuddered.

Manipulative. He was surrounded by manipulative people. And these people were his allies.

Ugh. He can totally see the family resemblance now.

Kushina, Nagato and Naruto—all three of them were adorably and innocently manipulative, whether they realise it or not.

_“I’m NOT—”_

Naruto started, but Kakashi immediately cut him off with a flat deadpan;

_You sweet-talked and manipulated 99% of our enemies to switch to our side._

_“Agreed.”_

_“Sasuke, you’re supposed to back me up.”_

_“Nah,”_ Sasuke snorted. _“I’m the devil’s advocate.”_

_“Fuck you—”_

_“Boys!”_ Sakura hissed.

Naruto’s retort fell into silence.

_“Shush.”_

And just like that, Sakura silenced them again, the exact moment Rin and Konan entered the room with the assortments of snacks and drinks.

Kakashi resisted yet another miserable sigh, cringing at the unwanted flash of déjà vu that resurfaced from what little fond memories of his teenage years.

This was like Kushina and Kuromaru all over again. Kushina literally brought a plate of dango back then when _his_ Minato-sensei educated him on this compulsory lesson, while Kuromaru was straight up smirking behind his steak bowl when Tsume kidnapped a seventeen-years-old Kakashi from his own ANBU squad to give that extended lesson on this subject that Minato wouldn’t know to cover.

This was literally like Kushina and Kuromaru again.

Only _worse._

Seriously. What entity of higher power has he pissed off in his past lives? Who did he piss off to deserve this?

_“Wait, why the fuck Tsume is involved with your sex-ed?”_

Kakashi sighed.

 _“Clan things, Sasuke,”_ he clarified briefly because Sakura was there in his mind too and this was highly inappropriate subject to cover around her—

 _“Sensei,”_ Sakura said, sounding slightly annoyed even within her stern no-nonsense tone, that Kakashi immediately has a mental image of her rolling her eyes so hard at him. _“I know.”_

Kakashi visibly flinched.

_Fuck._

Sakura snorted. _“Tsunade-sama drilled me to read on it, just in case if any situation arises for that knowledge to be used,”_ she clicked her tongue in an almost chiding way. _“And to prepare me to deal with you just in case you’re still the last of the Hatake even after she kicked the bucket. We can't let the Hatake goes extinct, sensei."_

Well, Kakashi didn’t know how to react to that.

On one hand, he was mildly terrified that Tsunade thought that it was necessary for Sakura to study that subject during her apprenticeship as a medic. On the other hand, his other pups have immediately fallen into silence, which was a good thing because he didn’t exactly want Naruto and Sasuke to gang up and started teasing him right now.

Though, both Sasuke and Naruto burst into a baffled whisper right the next second;

_“What?!”_

_“Different clans have slightly different anatomy,”_ Sakura started with an exhausted sigh, much like how Kakashi was after his first day with these pups.

Exhausted, drained and **_so done_**.

 _“Sensei, that’s soooo mean!”_ Naruto whined.

Sakura sent him another mental image of her rolling her eyes.

Though, she didn’t comment anything but instead proceeded to the explanation with that serious technical voice.

 _“You see, my adorable idiots of brothers,”_ she started. “ _Different clans have slightly different genetic makeup. It is most commonly theorised as a result of evolution from centuries of using a similar form of techniques, or the centuries of struggling with the same issue that affected the continuation of their clan,”_ she paused to inhale a deep breath. _“In sensei's case, the Hatake clan struggled with infertility when they procreate with non-Hatake people. There are two specific genetic mutations in their DNA that are not compatible with people outside of their clan."_

 _The Inuzuka is an exception, though._ Kakashi quickly interjected. 

" _Because you probably shared the same common ancestor_ ," Sakura argued, clicking her tongue thoughtfully. " _The Inuzuka have those two mutations too, although they're lucky because they have another mutation that saves them from having the same issue as your clan suffered, sensei_ ," she ended with a frustrated sigh. " _I wish I have my notes. The Nidaime and Lady First did extensive research on this topic out of concern of the Hatake's declining numbers. They explained it better._ "

Huh. Glad to know someone actually cared about the survival of the smallest clan in Konoha. He'll be sure to pay some respect to the Nidaime and Lady Mito's graves sometime in the future.

" _Anyway, I know that the Hatake has developed slightly different anatomy throughout the centuries to compensate for their low birth rate,"_ she huffed sulkily, probably still irked that she did not have her notes. _"Already read and studied the topic. No need to be embarrassed because of me, sensei. It's all science and survival in the end."_

Still did not make it any less awkward to discuss this subject openly with her. That one time with Tsume was enough.

Sakura groaned.

_"Is the Hatake the only one...?"_

Bless Naruto's curiousity. Bless him. 

_"Eh, no,"_ Sakura answered, now successfully distracted from berating Kakashi. " _Every known clan has some form of evolution in their biology. For example, the Uchiha has a typically bigger lung capacity and fewer heat receptors in their skin—”_

 _“Because we’re infamous for our katon jutsu?”_ Sasuke piped in.

 _“Correct,”_ Sakura affirmed. _“The Uzumaki and the Senju typically have hyper-fast metabolism due to their large chakra reserve. They typically heal faster, the closest example being our lovely idiot over here—yes, it is not just Kurama as the sole factor of your fast healing, Naruto. Part of your biology actually plays a part too,_ ” there was a pause, as if the pups were having a silent conversation, followed by Naruto’s laughter and Sakura’s silent chuckle, before she added. _“It is also the exact reason normal dosage of poison or alcohol wouldn’t affect them much because the chemical process that broke down those substances in their body occurred extremely fast.”_

Kakashi wondered how exactly Sakura learn and remember this.

 _“Lots of reading, sensei. A medic needs to know everything, just in case we need that knowledge in the field,”_ she retorted with a huff, though her voice perked up again as she continued her impromptu lesson. “ _Anyway, some known shinobi of those clans—both of our previous Hokage, Lady First and also Tsunade-sama included—have the ability to consciously control this internal process.”_

 _“Ah, so that’s the reason that one second baa-chan can be batshit drunk, and the next second she is kicking asses—fully sober?”_ Naruto asked.

_“Yep.”_

_“Whoaa. Cool!”_

_“I know right?”_ Sakura agreed, and Kakashi couldn’t help but note the enthusiasm and passion in her voice. _“It is so fascinating. I spent days and nights reading all of those scrolls that covered this subject.”_

And for that brief moment of being between the two realities—the real world where Minato was trying to kick everyone out of the room, and his own mindscape where his students were actively chattering—Kakashi felt like he was doused in cold realisation.

Sasuke was the prodigal genius. Naruto was the hardworking genius.

He never considered that Sakura was a genius in her own way too.

She’s just a medic. Not even that strong of a fighter, if compared to Sasuke and Naruto. The weak link between her two overpowered teammates.

The crybaby.

The useless one.

But sitting here, listening to the extent of her knowledge, seeing the little glimpse of her gruelling medic training—her deep passion for the science of human’s body, her understanding of the relations between their spiritual knowledge of chakra and the evolution of their own kind—Kakashi finally noticed the true strength of his only female student.

Power. Tenacity. _Knowledge_.

Sasuke. Naruto. _Sakura_.

Together, the three of them embodied the values that made a devastatingly powerful shinobi.

Kakashi cast a quick glance to Minato’s futile attempt of trying to get rid of the rest of their allies out of the room and thought that he could afford a few seconds of spacing out into the mindscape.

So, he closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to venture into the bijuu plane.

Kurama greeted his arrival with a knowing smirk and a smug huff.

Kakashi sent the bijuu a fond smile, reaching out a hand to pat the red fur. He then shifted his gaze towards his pups, eyes softened considerably upon seeing the rare sight of Sakura being the centre of the attention—free to display the passion of her heart as Sasuke and Naruto both crowded around her, for once paying full attention to her words.

“The Aburame’s has developed the physical ability to withstand literal parasites, hence the reason Shino can keep parasitic insects in his body without any repercussion to his overall health. Ino’s clan, the Yamanaka, has higher and faster rates of synaptic transmission in their brain as compared to everyone else, which accommodates their clan’s technique,” Sakura kept on chattering, seemingly oblivious to Kakashi’s arrival now that she was so deep in her passion.

Not that Kakashi was going to stop her.

How could one have the heart to interrupt such passion?

“We all know that the Akimichi relied heavily on their size, hence the reason their body is actually made to _store_ excess fats rather than eliminate them,” she chattered on, hands moving about in the air to illustrate her words, oblivious even when Naruto lifted his head up to greet Kakashi with an acknowledging nod. “And that thing about the Nara being insanely smart? It isn’t a coincidence. Their brain has evolved throughout the centuries since their existence as a clan, allowing them to utilise over 30% of their brain’s ability upon birth, as opposed to the 10% of average human,” she ended with a wide enthusiastic grin, before adding eagerly; “And they evolved that ability as they _grow_. Shikamaru’s IQ are going to increase as he ages, guys.”

Sasuke briefly acknowledged Kakashi with a glance before he threw in his two ryo in.

“Guess now I know the science behind the sharingan’s inability to copy clan-specific jutsu,” the Uchiha said, crinkling his nose in slight annoyance. “Our bodies aren’t made to accommodate those jutsu. That sucks.”

“Correct,” Sakura beamed. “So, long story short, each clan actually have slight differences in their physical anatomy or genetic makeup to accommodate their clan-specific techniques or to compensate for clan-specific survival issues like in sensei’s case.”

Kakashi did not need to be reminded of his clan’s survival issue, thank-you-very-much, but damn, seeing her like this—deeply enthusiastic of something that she truly passionate about without the restraints of wanting to impress anyone—has made a fond smile to grow on his face.

Fate and destiny might have ganged up on him to turn his life into this chaotic mess, but they did gift him with his pups to compensate all the headaches he had to suffer through.

His wonderfully _gifted_ and _amazing_ pups.

“Oh!” Sakura gasped when Kakashi squished himself between her and Naruto. “I didn’t notice you, sensei,” she greeted him with a genuine smile, arms reaching out to wrap him in a quick hug. “It’s still too chaotic outside?”

Kakashi didn’t answer, but simply ruffled her hair when they separated from the hug.

“Um, sensei?”

Kakashi met her baffled gaze with a fond smile.

“You’re amazing, do you know that?” he said, simple and straightforward.

But her green eyes lit up, shining with hopeful disbelief at first, but upon a reassuring pat over her head, she beamed at him with a bright pleased smile, radiating the adorable air of happy pup under his acknowledging fond gaze. Then, she lunged, wrapping him in her arms once again, toppling him off balance as she buried her face to his chest.

“Thank you, sensei.”

It was a soft choked whisper against his chest—barely audible—but Kakashi heard the heavy tone of relief and gratitude in her voice, heard the raw emotion of someone who has finally been validated after being dismissed and hidden behind someone else’s shadows throughout her whole life.

It softened Kakashi, making him a bit warm and fuzzy deep inside, especially upon feeling the two additional weights that landed on each of his shoulders.

His life might be messed up and chaotic—and probably would go even more downhill in the future—but it wouldn’t change this one fact;

Kakashi would always love these chaotic pups.

* * *

“All of you are horrible.”

Obito snorted, turning around to hide his silent snigger from the vicious exasperated glare of his teacher, only to frown upon seeing the blank look in Sakuto’s eyes.

“Rin, I expect better from you,” Minato whined again, sounding both pleading and irritated, but Obito heeded him no mind. “Nohara Rin! You’re supposed to be the reasonable one.”

Rin loudly bit onto the rice cracker.

Minato groaned.

Obito pointedly ignored the chaos that was dominated by his team but shifted his focus and attention on Sakuto instead.

His eyes spun to sharingan almost in a reflex instinct, as he ensured that his gaze swept across the room once again, making sure that there wasn’t any hidden attack going down as they indulged in this mundane chaotic argument. There was nothing out of ordinary in their immediate surrounding, yet Sakuto was still oddly spaced out. Mismatched eyes of blue and green stared blankly ahead, unfocused and unblinking, as if Sakuto was no longer with them in this reality.

The silver-haired teen didn’t even acknowledge Obito even when Obito waved a hand in front of his face.

_Well, fuck._

Grimacing, Obito mentally prepared himself for another dissociative outburst, making sure that he blanketed Sakuto with the scent of comfort while keeping his hands tangled with Sakuto’s, just in case if there would be another self-destructive outburst.

 _“You’re really asking for it at this point, you know?”_ Rin’s voice chimed in through their telepathic link, sounding blankly amused just like the stare she was sending him from across the room. _“Any more of this, you’re going to imprint on each other.”_

Obito resisted a miserable sigh.

_Rin, listen—_

_“No no no. **Listen.** You’re going to imprint on him. Then, you two are going to get deeply attached to each other. You’re going to date, fall grossly in love, and get married. I’m calling it now.”_

Obito returned her judgemental stare with a scowl.

_If he snapped and lost control again, none of us can stop him. Be reasonable, Rin._

_“Sureeee,”_ Rin retorted, sending a snide stare at the way he was holding Sakuto’s hands. _“Whatever that feeds your denial, Obi.”_

Obito sent her a mental middle finger.

Rin nudged Minato to the side so that she could be in Obito’s direct line of sight, sticking her tongue at him the moment she was in his full view.

Obito rolled his eyes.

_So mature, Rin._

_“ **You** are not mature, so why should I—the younger impressionable baby sister—have to be?” _was her immediate reply.

Geez. Obito was going to disown her for real this time.

How _rude_.

“So, it’s true.”

Minato’s soft voice had Obito to break the glaring match he had with Rin.

“The three of you formed a pack.”

Obito met his teacher’s gentle gaze with a baffled stare, briefly wondering if Minato really hasn’t noticed that.

Obito went from constantly arguing with Kakashi to activating both Mangekyou and Mokuton in his grief upon the news of Kakashi’s death. Normal teamwork wouldn’t result in such a drastic change of dynamic. It should've been obvious.

The pain of losing a teammate was no match for the agony of losing a brother.

“Uh, yeah?” but Obito still responded with respectful voice, because gods knew what kind of messed up shit Minato has gone through in these past months. The poor man looked so drained and tired, that it might be entirely reasonable for him to miss the obvious. “We did.”

Minato’s whole expression softened, so much so that Obito felt his own heart breaking at the thought that perhaps Minato himself has been waiting to form a proper pack bond with Kakashi. Hell, he wouldn’t even doubt it for a second if Minato has spent years since Sakumo’s death waiting for Kakashi to open up to the idea of accepting another parental figure in his life.

It was kinda sad, to be honest.

“Since when?”

Minato’s glazed eyes reflected the loss that still wound him, causing Obito to reflexively squeeze Sakuto’s limp hands to calm his own nerves.

Rin shot him yet another judgemental gaze from across the room.

“A few days before Kannabi,” he said, swallowing bitterly right after that, especially upon seeing that flash of hurt in Minato’s eyes.

“He felt you dying,” was Minato soft comment. “Both of you did,” he corrected as his gaze landed on Rin.

“Not for long,” Obito retorted almost in an instant. “I blocked them out—”

“Jerk,” Rin interrupted. "Idiot jerk."

“It’s for your own good,” Obito insisted. “I really thought that I’m going to die back then. I don’t want you to experience that!”

“Not experiencing anything is even worse!” she snapped, voice thundering with a hint of Isobu's rage. “He broke right at that moment, Obito. When you blocked us out, we have no idea how horrible it was for you to suffer _alone_ and we couldn’t be there with you until the very end—”

There was a flare of inhuman chakra—raw power that flickered and snapped in suppressed emotions—as Rin’s eyes flashed to a vibrant pink. Though, her nerves remained unyielding like the finest reinforced steel because she didn’t shed any tears despite the raw pain in her voice.

“It _shattered_ him,” Rin whispered. “He lost an important family member once, and when he just opened up and embraced us as his family…,” she swallowed thickly, “…he lost you too.”

Obito squeezed his eyes shut.

“We felt so helpless, Obito,” she added, voice growing softer. “We thought we could comfort you, accompany you to the very end—it was the least we could do after abandoning you to suffer to death—but then we couldn’t even do that,” she exhaled a deep careful breath.

Rin looked him dead in the eyes, solemn pink meeting spinning red as her voice resounded awfully loud in his head.

_“The guilt completely shattered him, and I couldn’t keep his pieces together.”_

Well, fuck.

Obito wasn’t thinking in that direction.

Back then, his mind has gone to the thought that Kakashi was the one who found Sakumo’s cooling corpse. It was a traumatic experience, to find the husk of one that you loved so deeply in such bloody sight, especially at that age.

Obito had thought that allowing Kakashi to be by his side to the very end would be even more of a traumatic experience.

So, he decided to spare Kakashi from that pain, completely unaware that he inflicted another form of pain on Kakashi by doing so.

Guess he made a wrong decision.

 _“It’s not your fault,”_ Rin murmured flatly. _“I know that you want to spare us the pain.”_

 _But the unknown hurts you even more,_ he responded, chuckling bitterly. _Haa…I’m an idiot._

Rin quirked a tiny smile.

 _“Our idiot eldest,”_ she crooned light-heartedly.

Obito snorted.

_I accept that insult, just for this once._

Rin’s smile grew wider, fond and loving, even as she rolled her eyes.

In the midst of that mental exchange, Obito completely missed the way Sakuto’s glazed blank stare regained its focused sheen, nor did he notice the way the limp fingers in his grip tentatively tangled around his own. He hardly noticed the way his own fingers immediately responded to Sakuto’s tentative move by tightening the grip he has on Sakuto’s hands.

Rin didn’t miss that though.

_“By the way, should I get accustomed to the idea of Sakuto as my future brother-in-law?”_

Obito sent her another mental middle finger.

* * *

If asked, Kakashi would totally rank this morning in the top 3 of the weirdest and most bizarre day in his life.

Sure, he already acknowledged the fact that things of this version of this past were significantly different from his previous one, but he wasn’t expecting it to be so different to _this_ extent.

The whole foundation of shinobi’s existence was altered starting from Kaguya’s era, which happened thousands of years ago. The death of Ootsutsuki Kaguya at the hands of her own children marked the difference between the history of this past with the one of the first time around. The whole dynamic of the world that Kakashi has known was shattered to pieces. The relations between nations. The conflict between civilians and shinobi. Kiri actually being a decent country that protected their young. Konoha being controlled by viciously warmongering elders.

Mind-blowing was an understatement.

Plus, being schooled in sex-ed by his teacher ( _again)_ made it even more of a bizarre and awkward experience, considering that he already knew how sex worked. Hell, he already has his fair share of sexual experience back in the first time around, with females and males alike—

 _“With beta,”_ Sakura interrupted, correcting his line of thought. _“You’re experienced with what they called ‘beta’ in this world, sensei. You have no idea how the hell this alpha and omega thing works.”_

Kakashi resignedly agreed with her.

It still didn’t make this whole experience any less awkward, though.

Plus, the sympathetic disbelieving stares being sent in his direction from the crowd that surrounded him made it even worse.

Kushina honestly looked like she was about to glomp and coddle him, but apparently has opted to substitute him with Nagato instead after Minato’s stern reprimand of wanting to respect Kakashi’s personal boundaries. Konan and Rin both shared a bug-eyed disbelieving look, sharing a somewhat similar look of a critical appraisal on Kakashi throughout Minato’s whole explanation of what that was supposed to be the common sense of this world. Yahiko was the only one who wasn’t fully staring at him, as the orange-haired opted to go through the progress reports for Uzushio’s defence instead, and only occasionally glanced up from his paperwork to give Kakashi that soft sympathetic smile. Nagato shot him a gentle sympathetic stare from across the room, but was mostly distracted in comforting Kushina’s emotion-driven coddling.

Minato simply sat there, silent as he waited for Kakashi to fully digest everything that they have covered before they went on.

 _“Alright, I need a recap,”_ Sakura said, being the only one out of the four human consciousness in Sakuto’s body that seemed to be swallowing this new knowledge at surprising calmness. _“Can you please repeat this to Yondaime-sama, sensei? I think I have a theory, but I need to make sure that we get the right information.”_

Kakashi jerkily nodded to her request, only to belatedly realised that everyone would see him nodding for no reason whatsoever.

No one seemed to want to comment on it, though.

They only stared at him.

_Sympathetically._

God damn it.

Sakura sent him mental images of grateful kisses and hugs before she started.

 _“Being in the chakra tree during Kaguya’s rule has altered their whole biology and dividing the world to three different “major” genders—alpha, beta, omega—with each having the subdivision of male and female,”_ she listed down, and Kakashi parroted her, word-by-word, with the minor change of wording to make it seemed like he was the one asking for clarification.

“You get that right,” Minato affirmed, smiling patiently and so gently.

Though, the sympathy flashing in his blue eyes told Kakashi that the man was probably a hairbreadth away from coddling Kakashi. Apparently, his allies now viewed him as a poor orphan who has been so isolated from the society that he didn’t even have this kind of “common” knowledge.

Weird is an understatement.

 _“Agreed,”_ Sasuke deadpanned.

 _“Seconded,”_ Naruto chimed in, sounding like the confusion actually hurt him. “ _I think my brain is short-circuiting.”_

 _“Boys, hush. I need to recap this since we have no notebook in here to take notes,”_ Sakura said, genuine enthusiasm peaking in her voice, making Kakashi to feel a little bit at ease to parrot her next question.

If his only female pup desired the knowledge of this bizarre world, she would get it.

Even if that would mean he has to brace through repetition of this awkward conversation.

 _“Hey, on a brighter note, you can hold hands with Obito,”_ Sasuke said, throwing in yet another of his unsolicited commentaries. _“Give us more of these springs and flowers. The bijuu plane is bleak without your flowery love.”_

This time, Kakashi truly has to put up an effort to stop himself from openly rolling his eyes.

_God damn it, Sasuke._

Sasuke snickered.

Despite that, Kakashi still allowed himself to sit a little bit closer by Obito’s side, indulging in the blanket of comfort that was radiating from Obito, and the general pleasantness of having someone to hold on while his whole world view was being deconstructed and reconstructed into this version of the world.

 _“Alright, sensei. Next one,“_ Sakura called, redirecting Kakashi’s attention from Obito’s warm hand to the knowledge Minato just explained to them. _“Out of these three major genders, beta would only be born into civilian or civilian-born families, while the other two are exclusive to the descendant of the old shinobi clans. There is no beta that has ever been born in a family with old shinobi clan bloodlines, and vice versa. Do we get that correct?”_

Kakashi repeated her words.

Minato affirmed with a simple nod.

 _“Cool,”_ Sakura said, completely focused now. _“Next!”_ she cheered enthusiastically. _“The sociocultural hierarchy of shinobi world dictated that beta, aka the civilian-born shinobi and civilians, are at the very bottom of the pyramid while omega and alpha dominated the top hierarchy?”_

“Only in shinobi world,” Minato responded after Kakashi parroted her question, pausing thoughtfully for a brief moment. “The few small countries whose population is hundred percent civilians do not use the same hierarchy system. They treated visiting shinobi as equals. It also depends on a particular shinobi village itself on how to treat the civilians,” he explained, patient and kind even if he has already explained this earlier. “Like in Konoha, our civilian has a form of authority in the Hokage’s council. It isn’t as much power as the shinobi’s authority, but they do have rights and voice.”

Kakashi took a moment to ponder on that.

“Uzushio was the _best_ ,” Kushina interjected with a beaming smile. “Back then, we treated our civilian and shinobi as equals,” she paused, her expression went crestfallen for a brief second before she faked a bright expression and added; “Half of our commanders and generals were civilians. The civilians are heavily involved in the country’s development, including the militaria department. Our civilians and shinobi were equally powerful and influential in the country’s administration.”

 _“I’m assuming that is the reason this version of the world decided to get rid of Uzushio, huh?”_ Naruto murmured softly. _“They must have been so strong as a country, if they utilised all of their manpower without any discrimination.”_

Kakashi thought so too.

“Which is the reason we wanted to revive Uzushio now. Revive that spirit of equality into this world,” Nagato added, smiling fondly in Kushina’s direction. “But like nee-chan said, it really depends on the ruler of the shinobi village to decide on the worth of the civilians.”

“Ame used to view civilians as lower than mud,” Konan hummed bitterly. “They have no rights or voice under Hanzou’s rule.”

“Funnily enough, our sister country, Kiri, actually views _alphas_ as the one that is at the bottom of the hierarchy,” Yahiko added in. “Their civilians actually have a decent life as middle-class citizens.”

Kakashi’s brows shot up in surprise.

That was distinctly different, yet almost similar to the Kiri that he has known.

 _“Mental note to read more about them?”_ Sakura proposed.

 _Mental note to read more about them,_ Kakashi agreed.

Naruto groaned.

 _“Reading is good, Naruto,”_ Sakura crooned at him. _“Especially when our whole world view is now shattered and being reconstructed.”_

_“But, Sakuraaaa—”_

_“Hush,”_ she hushed him. _“You can play with Sasuke and Kurama while sensei and I read more about this world.”_

 _“What are we?”_ Sasuke interjected. _“Little kids?”_

 _“Yes,”_ Sakura cheered, before Kakashi felt her attention being shifted back to him. _“Next one, sensei,”_ she urged. _“The descendants of the old clan will only be born either as an omega or an alpha, and they have certain privileges that only their kind can initiate, correct?”_

“Yes and yes,” Minato answered right after Kakashi finished parroting Sakura’s question. “In a general context, there are three different types of pack—the blood pack, the bond pack, and the mate pack—but the way each bond is initiated is different.”

“The blood pack is the bond between actual blood-relatives,” Kakashi listed down without Sakura initiating a recap, because he himself was deeply interested in this one. “No matter how distant you are, or how long you have been separated from your blood pack, if there was a drop of blood relations within your veins, this kind of bond can immediately be reinforced.”

“Yes,” Kushina affirmed, reaching out a hand to hold Kakashi’s hand that wasn’t in Obito’s grip while hooking her other arm with Nagato’s. “Like you, me and Nagato. Each of us have the Uzumaki bloodline in our body, hence making us an immediate blood pack. There is no need for imprint or the bonding ritual to happen. We’re automatically bonded by blood.”

That made Kakashi felt a little bit warmer inside.

The first time around, he struggled to find a sense of belonging, yet now it came so easily.

He looked up from Kushina’s hand that was tangled with his own and quirked a soft smile the moment his mismatched gaze met Nagato’s purple eyes. It was a private exchange of comradeship and gratitude, a brief silent moment of acknowledging their relations before they broke the eye contact.

Kushina squeezed his hand once before immediately retreating away, giving Kakashi that small circle of personal space again.

Kakashi was grateful for that.

“Bond pack is like Rin and I,” Obito finally spoke from his side, his lips quirked to a gentle smile when Kakashi turned to stare at him. “And Kakashi too, even if he is gone now. We’re family by choice.”

Kakashi felt something twisted in his chest upon hearing those words.

A part of him yearned to claim the name that he was supposed to abandon, wanted to be seen by Obito and Rin as his true self, but he immediately reigned himself back, falling back to the mental comfort that his pups offered to him.

He was no longer Hatake Kakashi.

He needed to keep on remembering that.

He was no longer Hatake Kakashi. The Hatake Kakashi of this world was _dead_.

“Bond pack is at a higher level of loyalty as compared to blood pack,” Rin chimed in. “Since we’re family by choice, each of us is acknowledged as though we’re truly related with each other. That’s why when Obito and Kakashi were both proclaimed as ‘dead’, I was named as their heir.”

Such heavy implication of the true relationship of Team Minato in this universe.

It made Kakashi envied his own doppelganger.

How he wished he has this kind of bond with his former team.

“I have the full right to their inheritance and responsibilities…,” Rin kept on speaking, oblivious to Kakashi's internal dilemma as she quirked a teasing smile at him, eyeing his and Obito’s interlocked hands, “…unless if there was a sudden claim from a direct blood relative such as siblings or parents, or if they have formed a mating bond beforehand and the spouse or pups wanted to put their claim on the inheritance.”

Her stare remained fixed on his and Obito’s interlocked hands, eyes widening and sparkling with the briefest of mischievous amusement. Her smirk grew once meeting his baffled gaze, before she very casually glanced to the side and exchanged yet another smirk with Konan.

Their exchange instantly made Kakashi felt self-conscious.

His shinobi instinct warned him to not trust any of these girls.

But they were his allies—his _friends._ Rin and Konan weren’t a threat to him.

Right?

Sakura suddenly cleared her throat and muffled a nervous giggle, as if she was about to burst out laughing but had to cover it with a cough.

Kakashi frowned, confused and baffled.

“That is the reason Konoha is now in chaos. The strongest shinobi nation is in chaos because Nohara Rin, Jinchuuriki of Isobu and the Hatake Clan Head, has apparently defected the village,” Konan commented dryly. “Jinchuuriki is one thing, but a Clan Head openly defecting? That’s a _huge_ deal. A public statement.”

“They’re aiming to use my responsibility as Kakashi’s heir to tie me to the village, securing a weapon for them to have the upper-hand in this war,” Rin snorted. “No, thank you. I doubt that is what my brothers wanted to fight for.”

_My brothers._

Two words that so easily leave Rin’s mouth, as if that was a fact that no one could deny.

How Kakashi would kill to have this kind of relationship with his team.

How he would kill to have _this._

 _“We can have it now, right?”_ Naruto murmured, soft and hesitant. _“I know that we’re not Obito and Rin, but we’re still your team, right? We can be a bond pack if we want to, can we, sensei?”_

Kakashi suddenly felt his throat dried out.

 _“Family by choice, huh?”_ Sasuke hummed, not agreeing nor disagreeing with the notion that Naruto just implied.

 _“Aren’t we already a family?”_ Sakura interjected. _“Like, sensei is the poor dad who is constantly bullied by his merciless sons. Sasuke is the asshole eldest brother. Naruto is the adorably idiot baby brother. And I’m the super cute and sweet middle child,”_ she giggled cheerfully. _“See? We’re already a family by choice, sensei.”_

Kakashi found himself to smile upon those words, content with what Sakura just implied.

Family.

Yes. These chaotic pups are his.

_His._

And no one could take them away from him, even if he has to live the rest of his life with the three of them in his head.

 _“What ‘sweet’?”_ Sasuke retorted, sharp with humour and teasing. _“You’re the **violent** , NOT cute daughter—oof, ouch! SAKURA!!”_

Kakashi physically flinched at the sudden hunch that Sakura just violently silenced Sasuke, judging from the slew of curses that the Uchiha just sworn upon Sakura’s name while Naruto in the background simply burst out to an egging giggle, completely embracing the role Sakura just nominated him as.

God. He loved these chaotic pups so much.

“And then, we have mate pack, which is like Kushina and I,” unfortunately, Minato's voice summoned his attention back to the real world. “It is self-explanatory on its own, but it does share a similar process as bond pack although at different extremes.”

Kakashi tipped his head in a bout of confusion and curiousity, crinkling his eyes in annoyance when his untied hair fell over his face. He huffed, blowing random long strands off his face—nose crinkled and lips curled to annoyed pout—before finally letting go of Obito’s hand to tie his hair again.

He totally missed the way Obito’s sharingan spun rapidly as the boy stared at him.

He also completely missed the way Konan and Rin exchanged yet another glance and a scheming smirk.

Minato coughed and sent a reprimanding glance in Rin’s direction before shifting his gaze back at Kakashi. His voice was stern as he spoke afterwards, paternal in such a way that compelled Kakashi to actually paid attention to his words.

“Pay attention to this part, Sakuto,” Minato started, sounding exactly like a mix of Sakumo’s paternal love and Tsume’s authoritarian tone. “It is important, especially to you, as a maturing alpha.”

It instantly brought Kakashi down the rabbit hole of his own memories, because the way Minato spoke brought up those memories he has long kept shut at the back of his mind.

 _“Listen here, Kakashi,”_ his father has once told him, back then when he was too young to understand the world. _“We really need to be attentive and careful in taking care of our mate.”_

Seven-years-old Kakashi understood nothing of those words other than the notion of him having to be super nice to his future spouse.

 _“Alright, pup. It is long overdue, so listen up,”_ Tsume has growled in that one fine day she randomly kidnapped Kakashi from ANBU locker room. _“Your dad is not here, so I’m going to explain this to you since our clans shared this same trait.”_

Seventeen-years-old Kakashi was reasonably horrified back then, because no one wanted to have “the talk” with Inuzuka Tsume. That woman has no tact whatsoever.

Oddly enough, Kakashi received both of those vibes from Minato right now.

The curious stare and glances being focused on him didn’t make it any less nerve-wrecking either.

"Um," he blurted out, hesitating, before he added with a firmer voice, "Okay?"

Minato smiled and brought up his fingers. "The three stages of bonding ritual," the man started, blue eyes solemn and stern that Kakashi found himself to straighten up his posture and snapped to attention. "Imprint. Claim. Marking," Minato said, counting down on his fingers. "These apply to both bond and mate pack, but are different in their execution."

It was eerie that even his chaotic pups have gone unnaturally silent, now focusing on Minato.

"We have minimal control over who we ended up imprinting on," Minato explained. "It really depends on the interaction you have with that person. If you feel safe and comfortable enough around them, your mind will subconsciously imprinted on them. Think of it as our internal instinct thinking of this person as a safe place, someone that we could depend on. It's an automatic process, but you will know that you have imprinted on someone if you have the desire to stake a claim on them," he paused for a moment, made eye contact with Kakashi and once he was sure that Kakashi was still listening, he continued. "Claim is when you make sure the world know that this person is yours, which is basically by scent-marking them.”

There was a beat of silence that was only broken as Minato exhaled a deep breath.

“Here's the thing Sakuto," Minato's voice dropped an octave, switching to the voice that Kakashi recognised as the voice of the Hokage rather than a teacher. "As a decent human being, you need to make sure that the other person is comfortable at the idea of being claimed. Don't randomly scent-mark anyone attractive that you see. Only assholes did that,” his face twisted to a scowl for a brief second before it slipped back to the no-nonsense Kage expression. “The rule of the thumb is cuddles and hugs. If that person is comfortable being cuddled and hugged by you while you're scenting them, usually it is okay."

Kakashi was a bit concerned when the humourous air in the room switched to a solemn one.

“Hand-holding also could be an attempt of claiming, especially if they try to scent your wrists,” Kushina added, crinkling her nose. “The wrist is involved in the formation of a bond pack.”

"However, if you have to force your way into their personal space...," Rin interjected, shifting slightly so that now she was half-curled in front of Obito, before spitting the rest of her words through her teeth, "...then you need to back off and go fuck yourself."

Kakashi has to wonder on the reason Rin looked positively murderous while Obito was slouched in resignation right behind her protective back, face hidden behind his palms and all.

"Just ask them to be sure," Konan added. "But most people already know this, and they will make it clear if they're not comfortable of being claimed."

"Also, the difference between bond-claim and mate-claim lies in how you try to scent-marked them," Nagato inputted solemnly. "If it just hugs or cuddles, people would assume that you either intend to start a close friendship or want a bond pack. Scenting the wrist is a definite offer for a bond pack," he explained, before slowly tilting his head to reveal the weird bump at the side of his neck that Kakashi noticed everyone execept Rin, Konan and Yahiko seemed to have. "Scent-marking the mating gland is a huge no-no unless if you two wished to be mated."

 _"Mating gland_ ," Sakura mused in interest.

" _Mating gland??!"_ Naruto shrieked.

To be honest, that just summed up Kakashi's exact thought.

"Betas don't have that, but same rule applied," Rin pointed out. “Cuddles and hugs for friendship or bond pack. Wrist scenting for bond pack. Throat scenting for mate pack. Ask before you try to claim anyone, just to be safe.”

“Speaking of betas and our non-existent mating gland, you need to be careful with the bite when you marked them,” Konan chimed in. “The marking for mate-pack hurts slightly more for us as opposed to omega or alpha.”

There was a brief silence.

“If claiming requires us to scent a person, does marking means you have to leave a mark on that person?” Kakashi eventually asked. “Same rule as claiming? Mark on the wrist means bond-pack, and mark on the neck means mate-pack?”

“Yes and yes,” Kushina grinned, tilting her own head just as Minato did the same to reveal the matching patterned bite mark over the bump on their respective neck. “Bite mark, to be exact.”

Kakashi took a minute to process that.

“Fun fact: Forcing a mating bond is dangerous for the assailant as it comes with the risk of death,” Konan hummed, amber eyes narrowed tauntingly in Kakashi’s direction.

“That is not a fun fact!” Yahiko groaned, banging his head onto his paperwork. "Konan!"

Konan cracked a saccharine smile.

“If the one you forced yourself onto think of you as a threat and it triggered their flight-or-fight reflex, their mating gland will produce venom as a form of self-defence,” she pointedly ignored Yahiko’s complaint and continued speaking. “Biting there put you at risk of being poisoned to death.”

“Similarly, if you tried to drug them or put them in a genjutsu, the same reflex will be triggered because our brain is pre-programmed to be conscious and aware during a marking,” Kushina added. “Forcing a mate-pack is almost impossible for omega and alpha, hence the reason they usually said that mated couples are soulmates and destined for eternal love.”

 _“How **romantic** ,”_ Sasuke purred. _“I’m now cleansed from all evil in the world.”_

 _Your sarcasm is dripping, boy._ Kakashi deadpanned. _Tone it down._

Sasuke snorted.

"However, only an alpha or an omega could initiate these processes,” Minato added, nodding towards Rin as he finished speaking. “But everyone is eligible to be claimed and marked."

Rin stepped forward to kneel in front of Kakashi. She pulled up her right sleeve and offered her wrist to him, allowing for him to have a closer look. Kakashi reached out to take her offered hand, sharingan activating the moment he saw the faint pattern over the inside of Rin's wrist. It is a shade darker from her skin, delicate and looking more like a scar at first look _—_ which was the exact assumption he has concluded when he saw this scar-like pattern on Obito's wrist while he was treating his friend _._

But, under the scrutinisation of the sharingan, the pattern came to life. 

Kakashi tentatively traced his finger around the faint intricate weave of the pattern, seeing the delicate tendrils that were the base of the pattern that circled Rin's wrist, noting the interweaved ribbon of water that was wrapped around the bulk of the tendrils like it was both protecting and nurturing them, before finally noticing the sparks of lightning that flickered from within the plant and the water, making it seemed like the pattern was moving, as if the lightning was the one sparking life into the other two elements.

"This is a bond mark?" he asked, still keeping his gaze on the pattern despite having seen this so many times while treating Obito.

"Yes," Rin cracked a smile, tracing the sparks of lightning on her wrist before she pulled her sleeves down once again. "You see? I'm a beta, so there is no way for me to be the one who initiates the ritual, but Obito marked me and the bonding works just fine."

"I remember seeing the same pattern on Obito's wrist too," Kakashi commented, tipping his head to his left where Obito was sitting eerily silent.

"That's a given," Obito murmured, waving his own wrist to flaunt his own mark. "She is mine as I am hers," he said flatly.

 _"Dang,"_ Naruto whistled. _"Someone is possessive."_

"And Kakashi is ours," Rin hummed, rubbing her wrist absent-mindedly. "Always and forever."

 _"Someones,"_ Sasuke corrected.

Sakura made a humming noise of agreement.

 _"Sensei, can you please ask them what does the bonding do to them? I'm curious on why Obito and Rin always seemed like they were having a silent conversation,"_ she then requested.

Kakashi parroted her question to the rest of the room.

"It's the bond," Yahiko started, showing the pattern on his own wrist. "It allows us to talk telepathically with each other."

"Or keep tabs on the emotional level of our packmates," Konan added, showing the pattern on her wrist that matched Yahiko's. "In a combative situation, it also can be used to coordinate and plan even if we're separated."

"The stronger your feeling towards each other, the easier it is to communicate and coordinate telepathically with your packmates," Nagato threw in his input, rubbing his own wrist absent-mindedly. "However, each member is capable to either fuzz out the link or block it entirely, usually for privacy reason."

Silence. Kakashi swallowed, mind working to properly digest the information.

 _"So basically, like us?"_ Naruto asked. _"This sounds exactly like how the link between you and us is like, sensei."_

Kakashi's brow shot up to his hairline upon hearing that. 

Huh. He didn't think of it like that.

Interesting.

Though, his reaction was misinterpreted by his allies as confusion.

"Like," Yahiko started, coughing nervously. "You don't want to be in your packmate's head when they're getting down and dirty with their partner."

Cue the nervous giggling. Konan and Rin straight up exchanged evil glances before shifting their gaze at Obito.

Obito flushed to deep pink.

Kakashi frowned.

_Why?_

"Anyway," Minato finally said with a voice that was loud enough to drown the nervous giggling. "That’s the basic knowledge of how our dynamic works,” he paused, inhaled a deep breath and grimaced. “Now, to the more technical topics.”

 _“Finally,”_ Sakura cheered. _“I’m dying to know how omega male and female alpha works.”_

 _Can’t we skip this part?_ Kakashi whined at her. _I know how sex works—_

 _“No you don’t,”_ Sakura countered sternly. _“You’re familiar with beta. I have the theory that male alpha and female omega works exactly like men and women of your clan. But there are two more genders we’re unfamiliar with, and you have zero knowledge about them,”_ she berated him, sounding eerily like her former master. “ _Listen to the Yondaime. You don’t want an awkward first time, sensei.”_

_IT IS **NOT** MY FIRST TIME!_

_“It might be your partner’s first,”_ she hummed nonchalantly, purposely bringing Obito’s flushed face to the front of his mind. _“Think about them, sensei.”_

That actually struck something.

**_“We really need to be attentive and careful in taking care of our mate.”_ **

Sakumo’s voice crooned in his head right after Sakura finished talking, repeating over and over like an embarrassing broken record.

_God damn it._

The vibe Sakura was sending him was so smug that it made Kakashi wanted to retreat into the mindscape to reprimand her.

His pups have no mercy whatsoever for him. None. _None._

“Sakuto?” Minato’s voice again snapped him back to the real world.

Kakashi immediately looked up to meet Minato’s gaze, finding that little fragile thing in his chest twisted at the sight of familiar blue eyes—the familiar concerned gaze he used to receive from his former sensei during the first time around—and he instantly averted his gaze.

Only now did he realise he had missed Minato too. The man was closest person he had for a paternal figure after his father's death.

But Minato wouldn't recognise him.

Minato's Kakashi has died.

Minato’s expression softened. “Is it too much?” the man asked.

Kakashi jerkily shook his head. “I’m fine…,” he said, searching for the right word to describe his utter mindfuck, “…just overwhelmed. I didn’t know any of this before…”

A truth, but in a contrastingly different context.

Minato’s eyes flashed with understanding and kindness—sympathy even—while Obito radiated more of that inviting comfort directly from his left.

“How long?” Minato asked.

Kakashi stared blankly at him.

“How long have you been living alone?”

Huh. Didn’t expect that question.

How long has it been? Since his father’s death? Since Obito? Since Rin? Since Minato’s passing? It has been such a long time that—

“I don’t remember.”

Or rather, he wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

He has always felt alone, but being an ANBU agent demanded a life of solitude, so perhaps he has never been alone after all. Was Gai’s persistence friendship counted as him not living alone? Gai literally never left him alone in his peace longer than 12 hours. Wasn’t Tsume’s occasional check-up means that he has never been alone too? He has someone keeping an eye on him. He shouldn’t have felt alone after that.

So why did he feel so detached from the world around him?

As far as his memories went, he has always been alone and on his own until his pups were assigned to him.

Unsure of his own answer, Kakashi gave Minato one of his blatantly plastic smile—the kind of smile that didn’t reach his eyes, the one that hid the visible loneliness and hurt that flashed through his eyes behind an eye-smile—yet another mask to keep him safe from the world.

Pathetic.

“Sakuto?” Minato prompted, already on his knee and halfway leaning to reach out for Kakashi.

Kakashi instinctively leant away from Minato’s outstretched hand, hiding behind his hair as he mumbled out a soft plea.

“Can we please continue?”

Minato paused, exhaled and slowly retreated out of Kakashi’s personal space.

“Alright. Alright, my boy,” he said with a gentle smile. “We’ll continue.”

* * *

The kit is a pure mess.

There. He said it.

Only a few months being trapped inside this brat, and Kurama has started to really question the parenting skills of everyone in Minato’s generation and older.

Seriously.

This kit was literally bouncing between multiple internal issues—abandonment issue, trust issues, separation anxiety, self-isolation, PTSD; you name it and there was a high chance that Kakashi would have it—yet not one of the adults around him actually cared to look beyond the mask and his laidback attitude to interfere.

And Kurama thought that these people did Naruto dirty.

They treated Kakashi no better than they treated Naruto.

It honestly pissed him off.

Since the brat was his host right now, Kurama felt more of Kakashi’s turmoil than he let on. He couldn’t remain indifferent as he did with Mito and Kushina, or as he did during the first twelve years of Naruto’s life, because unlike those decades of ignorance, this time Kurama did care for his host.

There. He said it. He cared for this mess of a brat.

“I can feel you brooding,” Naruto murmured, reaching out a hand to fist on his fur. “What’s wrong?”

 ** _“I hate humans,”_** he mumbled to the blonde boy.

Naruto snorted a silent laugh.

But Kurama’s attention was no longer on him.

**_“One thing we have in common, wolf.”_ **

Kurama rolled his eyes.

Then, he nudged his nose at Naruto’s back, flicked his claw on top of Sasuke’s head and tapped the tip of his claw on Sakura’s head before he stood and shook his fur, mind now focusing at the voice in his head.

 ** _“Isobu_** **,”** Kurama greeted.

**_“Wolf.”_ **

Kurama huffed in amusement, resting his muzzle on top of Naruto’s head, purring when he saw the flicker of concern in Naruto’s blue eyes.

 ** _“I’ll be back_** **,”** he offered to Naruto, before shooting a stern glare at the other two. **_“Behave, the three of you. Don’t torment your poor dad too much.”_**

With that, he left the kits on their own, ascending to another level of the bijuu plane that no man has ever entered.

Isobu was waiting as he arrived.

Isobu was definitely not expecting to see him.

**_“Kurama?”_ **

Kurama bared his fangs in a smug grimace.

**_“Hey, baby brother.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look me straight in the eyes and tell me that my Sakura is a useless crybaby. 
> 
> Look me straight in the eyes and tell me that my Rin is just a love interest. 
> 
> Look me straight in the eyes and tell me that I did my girls dirty.
> 
> I dare you.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Anyhow, I took advantage of Hatake's near-extinct population to create the circumstances in this chapter. Let's say that the Hatake clan of the original world have genetic mutations that prevented fertilisation of fetus if any one of the parents is not a Hatake (or an Inuzuka). Thus, to compensate for this problem, they evolved a counter in the form of a knot for the Hatake men and extremely fertile womb for the Hatake women. The reason Tsume is the one covering that subject is that some Inuzuka do have knots. Plus, Minato didn't know about that one little thing of Hatake men anyways. Sakumo told little Kakashi that little advice because normal people in the OG world would have a major problem taking a knot, so Kakashi have to be gentle and attentive to his partners. 
> 
> (Now that you think of it, make senses that he read porn a lot. If only a few people are willing to go down and dirty with him, baby needs to get off in some way or another.)
> 
> They still do not have mating gland though, but the good news is, Obito wouldn't be deprived of a knot when Obikaka finally gets to _it_.
> 
> Wow. It's like I keep retconning stuff to make everything fit together. LMAO
> 
> Anyway....See you in two weeks time. Kbye.


	22. God, this was such a headache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late. I know. I forgot that I'm supposed to update last week instead of this week. Lol.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is a bit heavy despite the bulshittery that I cooked up. Un-betaed like usual, and I haven't got time to edit it. Things are a bit busy at work because my partner take a long leave to celebrate Eid.
> 
> Which reminds me, Happy Eid to any of my readers that celebrate it. ❤

* * *

_**"Run.”** _

It was one single word that changed everything.

It halted Tabi's intense discussion with the Senju brat. It jerked Shukaku awake from his slumber. It made Saiken stopped playing with his bubbles. It sent Son and Kokuo into full-blown anxiety, causing volcanoes to erupt and wind to destroy. It distracted Gyuuki from his routine observation of human's life. It froze Chomei mid-air right under the night sky.

It terrified Isobu senseless.

Kurama has never sounded so genuinely terrified.

Their eldest, the most powerful of the bijuu, the first one who was derived from the Juubi, the one who got the most of Juubi's power, the first to gain a soul among all nine chakra monsters— _that_ fox was genuinely terrified _._

What’s worse was that Kurama wasn’t terrified for himself.

Kurama was terrified for _them,_ the rest of the bijuu.

_**“Run!”** _

Little did Isobu knew that was the last time he ever heard from his eldest brother.

_**“And trust no human.”** _

With that, they felt him vanish.

Their _strongest_ —regardless of the arguments from Son and Shukaku that kept popping up—faded from the link they have shared for millenniums and in his place was the power they were all too familiar with. It was the power that originated from their father, being passed down to one of their human brothers and now was exclusive to only one clan.

_Sharingan._

_**“Uchiha**_ **,”** Son and Gyuuki barked out first, the exact time they sensed Matatabi moved into action while Kokuo and Chomei worked together to quickly block what that was supposed to be Kurama out of their shared bond, fearing for the influence of the sharingan to reach them too.

It broke Isobu a little bit.

Shukaku was the youngest among them, but he was far too rebellious to be a typical youngest sibling (or Kurama’s favourite at that) while Matatabi was the symbol of brilliance and independence, which meant that being a spoiled brat wasn’t even in consideration for her.

It has always been agreed that Isobu was the spoiled one among them all.

The baby. The cutest one. Kurama’s favourite (because he was the least annoying).

And among all eight of them, Isobu was the one who was fully aware that Kurama was fiercely protective over them. They fought. They argued. They tried to one-up each other to the point of near-world destruction. They were the worst siblings ever existed in history, even with Indra and Ashura in the competition.

But at the end of the day, they were exactly that _—siblings_.

Despite the aloofness, despite the arrogance of being the strongest, their eldest truly cared about them.

Kurama wasn’t good with words, but he made it up with his actions.

Most of the bijuu have forgotten that it was Kurama’s tails that kept them warm and safe during the nights they were left on their own after their father’s death. It was Kurama’s back they looked up to as they grew throughout the millenniums. It was his shadow that sheltered them when humans started to forget and turned against them.

It has been a long time, thousands of years ago in fact, so most of those memories of their younger years have been dismissed to the back of their mind.

They all have forgotten.

Not Isobu.

Isobu _remembered_.

Feeling Kurama faded away, in pain and suffering, as he was subdued by the power descended from the one who they loved the most—

It was _painful_.

 _ **“Hashi, Mito, Tobi and I are moving out. We’re the nearest,”**_ Tabi reported, voice chiming with grim determination. _**“Will keep you updated.”**_

Isobu belatedly realised that his little sister was with humans.

And Kurama said to not trust any human.

 _ **“Matatabi, get the hell away from them,”**_ Son growled, and Isobu felt him moving, felt the heat of his chakra extending beneath the Earth and warming up the sea Isobu was swimming in. _**“They’re affiliated to the Uchiha.”**_

 _ **“This could be a trap**_ **,”** Kokuo chimed in, persuasive even with the gentleness of her voice. _**“Get out of there, Tabi.”**_

 _ **“Leave them and convene with us, Tabi,”**_ Chomei pushed on.

There was a beat of silence as they waited for Matatabi to get into her senses.

She didn’t.

 _ **“I trust Tobirama**_ **,”** was her quiet reply.

It was uproar and chaos afterwards.

Everyone was shouting over the other. Son was the loudest, yet Kokuo was the one that rang with the most authority, which was a rare occurrence since she was the gentlest among them all. Shukaku growled, directing his displease at Matatabi while Saiken fretted over him, trying to keep him from losing control. Gyuuki and Chomei were the ones trying to be calm and mature throughout the yelling, but it didn’t sway their eccentric sister at all.

On her end, Matatabi was strangely non-aggressive as she countered each of their shouted arguments with calm updates of the situation.

Isobu feared for her safety.

She was the closest to Kurama’s location, was now travelling towards the threat with three other humans—who could very well be enemies by this point, considering their ties with the Uchiha—but part of him wanted to trust her too.

Because if one would ask who was the smartest among all the bijuu, no one could outshine Matatabi.

She had a plan if things soured. If her humans betrayed her, she must have had a plan to save herself.

She _has to_ have one.

_**“Fuck."** _

Panic was the collective reaction within their mindscape upon that unexpected outburst.

 _ **“FOOLISH!”**_ Son yelled, followed with strings of loud curses.

Isobu sensed a few of the underwater volcanoes exploded following Son’s outburst.

 _ **“I’m coming, Tabi**_ **,”** Kokuo murmured, and Isobu felt the wind moving past him—fast as she was. _**“Hang on, little sister.”**_

 _ **“Konoha, right?”**_ Chomei prompted, urgency behind his calm voice. _**“I’m not that far.”**_

There was no response from Matatabi, although she was still present in their shared link.

 _ **“Did they turn on you?”**_ Gyuuki asked over Son’s loud slew of curses, calm even within the chaos of their shared mindscape. _**“Update, Matatabi.”**_

When she finally responded, her response wasn’t what that any of them expected.

_**“Do you remember our weird uncle?”** _

Oh no.

Oh no no no no no.

Born from the will of their grandmother. The one that their father and other uncle have kindly tried to integrate into the family after Kaguya’s passing. The one that gave off weird vibes whenever he was near any of them. The one who vanished a year before Indra’s birth, never to be seen again.

_**“He’s back.”** _

That was the last thing Isobu wanted to hear.

* * *

Kakashi really wanted to Kamui out of here.

It should be possible, despite Obito sharing the same Kamui dimension as his own now. He could nope out of here while Minato was distracted with sorting out the diagrams. If he did it quickly, he probably would have a second or two of a headstart to teleport to any random location before Obito realised that he was gone.

 _“Sensei, no,”_ Sakura growled before he could even think of activating his sharingan. “ _Sit,”_ she huffed, almost sulkily despite the stern tone of that command. _“Yondaime-sama is not done yet. Sit.”_

Geez. If any of his pups dared to—

_“Woof.”_

God damn it, Sasuke.

Naruto burst to a nervous giggle.

Kakashi buried his face in his palms and let out a heavy sigh.

Somewhere in the background, in between Minato’s soft murmurs and papers shuffling, he heard muffled female giggles.

Groaning to his palm seemed to be justified in this kind of situation.

Konan and Rin were totally not as focused on their paperwork as Yahiko was, despite constructing a curriculum for young children should demand their full attention and nothing else. It was by sheer luck too that Nagato was summoned out by one of his subordinates earlier, and that Kushina has followed him out to help him deal with whatever issues the patrol team has encountered during their rounds.

It was easier to focus on Minato when everyone was occupied.

Kakashi sighed again.

This was a strangely embarrassing repeat of the lesson he had with Tsume eleven years ago.

Awkward. Embarrassing. With a completely unhelpful audience in the background.

The only difference was that he already knew what Minato intended to teach him, at least when they covered the betas as well as female omega and male alpha. It was the knowledge that he was already aware of—the biology of normal people and the specific biology of his clan—but to learn it again from his sensei was a bit too much for him to calmly accept when his mind kept backtracking to that one fine day with Inuzuka Tsume.

Tsume really has no tact or filter whatsoever.

But he got the lesson he needed from her anyway, even with the absence of his father.

Yes, Hatake's men do have knots to ensure the likelihood of pregnancy to their women. Hatake's women have a specific hormone that triggers heat which would affect their men. In the presence of the scent of a familiar woman in heat, the Hatake men would descend into a bout of lust that they called ‘rut’ to attend to their respective woman.

All for the purpose of procreation and continuity of the clan.

(Even though their numbers still decline with all the war and deaths that was going around.)

And apparently, male alpha and female omega of this changed past worked exactly like that.

 _“I’m glad that it really works like that,_ ” Sakura pondered through their mental link, voice dead serious as if this didn’t even faze her. _“That makes it so much easier to remember.”_

 _“Uh, what?”_ Sasuke interjected. _“Sakura, no.”_

 _“It does not make anything easier!”_ Naruto exclaimed, frustrated. _“This is complicated and weird as hell.”_

 _“Eh, but it is easier?”_ Sakura countered. _“My hypothesis was right. With the exception of the mating gland, male alpha and female omega works exactly like the Hatake clan from our original world.”_

There was a beat of silence.

Kakashi resisted another suffering sigh.

 _"None of us thinks that sensei is any different than a normal human,"_ Naruto started.

 _“Seconded,”_ Sasuke insisted. _“Literally no one but you know about this.”_

 _“Y’all need to hang out around the hospital,”_ Sakura hissed, almost sounding offended. _“Literally every medic is aware of this. Probably not in-depth, but they know the basic. And the Inuzuka totally knows,”_ she paused for a moment, before gasping softly. _“Oh my god, is that why the old nurses kept gossiping about your broken engagement with Kiba’s sister, sensei?”_

Kakashi mentally sighed.

_You had to bring that up, huh?_

_“WHAT?! YOU WERE ENGAGED?”_

That was the collective outburst from his boys.

 _My mom was the last Hatake woman,_ he answered softly, not knowing what to feel about the woman he never knew. _The only way to continue my bloodline is through procreation with an Inuzuka. Hana is the only suitable mate that is around my age._

Sakura made a humming thoughtful noise.

 _“It didn’t work out?”_ she then asked.

Kakashi paused to think about that. He hadn't really cared about that supposed arranged marriage, especially after his father's death. He was too young to understand the arrangement when Sakumo and Tsume set up that first play date, and by the time he was old enough to understand, he was far too gone into his own solitude to care.

Hana understood him, though.

She broke the supposed engagement in his stead but kept the offer open.

 _We like being friends,_ was Kakashi’s simple reply to Sakura’s question.

_“But she is totally down in giving you little Hatake?”_

Kakashi almost snorted a laugh.

_“Hana’s a good friend.”_

Not that he would ever accept that offer though. They both knew it, but Hana was such a wonderful friend for keeping that offer open so that the village elders wouldn’t bother him.

Kakashi briefly wondered if the situation was the same in this time period, or that the existence of these dynamics meant that the engagement never even happened. There might be a likelihood that the mutations of his gene affected more than one clan, or affected no clan at all. If the mutations were common in shinobi of this world, and that female omega worked the same as Hatake women—and to an extent, he assumed male omega was the same too—his options seemed to have more varieties than the first time around.

Of course, that was assuming that his clan of this _world_ even suffered the same problem.

Probably yes, probably no—how the hell he was supposed to know for sure? He probably needed Sakura to guide him down the restricted library in Konoha to even know where to start reading if he was to study this further.

God, this was such a headache.

“It’s a lot to take in, huh?”

Kakashi jerked at the comment and instantly looked up from the floor to meet Minato’s gentle gaze.

He returned his teacher’s kind smile with a hesitant one.

“Maa…,” he started, eyes crinkled in that eye-smile again as he tipped his head on the diagrams that they have covered. “That is a lot of things.”

Minato laughed.

“Still good?” the man asked, already lowering the scroll in his hands as if he was ready to stop the moment Kakashi said the words. “There are two more we haven’t gone through.”

Kakashi considered the idea of noping away, but Sakura was sending murderous aura to him. Taking into account that his students were no longer imaginary as he previously thought, and she was very capable to traumatise him should she want to, Kakashi decided against his own desire to nope his merry away from this lesson. He braced himself and gave an assuring smile at his former teacher.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he assured.

Minato beamed and promptly placed the scroll right between them. Kakashi, despite his own prediction that this would be awfully bizarre for him, couldn't help but stare in bafflement at the diagram. At one glance, it looked exactly like the female anatomical dummy he remembered his Minato has shown him fifteen years ago, but he blinked once and suddenly the whole diagram seemed so foreign and didn’t make sense at all.

 _“Ouch,”_ Naruto hissed, and Kakashi could almost feel how bad his blonde student was currently wincing. _“Why does that look so painful?”_

Kakashi has no comment for that. Instead, he grimaced and waited for Minato to start.

“Externally, a female alpha looks the same as any other woman,” Minato started, his voice was technical and precise despite the hushed giggles from the supposedly occupied girls behind Kakashi. “You wouldn’t be able to physically differentiate them with other females until they’re aroused,” he reached out a hand to circle what that was supposed to be the womb in normal woman, before tracing the oddly shaped cavity that Kakashi’s logic mind instantly labelled as the inside of the uterus.

In the dummy he was forced to study fifteen years ago, this cavity was a bit larger and he was taught that it was the place a baby will grow in, as well as the place where the blood built up before a woman has their period.

In this particular diagram, the cavity was a bit narrower, fitting snugly against what that he could describe as a large dildo being shoved bottom first into someone’s body.

Even without Minato explaining it, Kakashi could assume that a female alpha must have kept her penis sheathed inside her body until the time to use it.

 _“Imagine having a boner and your dick is stuck inside,”_ Sasuke randomly inputted. _“Ouch.”_

 _“I don’t know, man,”_ Naruto murmured. _“From my experience travelling with Ero Sennin, I’m willing to bet Kurama’s tail that someone in this world must have turned that as a pleasurable kink. That looks snug as fuck.”_

Sakura groaned.

 _“You boys are gross,”_ she lamented.

 _“Says the girl who was totally excited about this in the first place,”_ Sasuke shot back.

 _“My intention is purely EDUCATIONAL_ ,” Sakura growled in response. _“You boys are nasty.”_

Kakashi shuddered. He hated to admit it, but Naruto has a point. That can totally be a kink.

 _“Sensei!”_ She yelled at him.

_It has to be said, Sakura._

Kakashi could almost imagine her glare of disbelief. Though thankfully, before she could even retaliate, Minato started to speak again and her attention was instantly redirected towards the man.

“Unlike us, our female counterpart typically has less problem hiding a boner,” Minato started, clearing his throat once when the muffled giggles behind Kakashi grew a bit too loud to be ignored. He determinedly focused on Kakashi then, tapping on that part of the diagram once. “Some girls can fully control when to, uh, unsheathed their blade so to speak,” he explained with a grimace, though his voice didn’t lose its technical professional tone as he added, "…but from what I have been told, it will unsheathe naturally as the lady grows more and more aroused. The arousal triggers the release of a hormone that relaxed this cavity so that her penis could slide out."

Kakashi took a moment to fully digest that.

“The reason that some of them do enjoy dressing up in silk dresses, I believe,” Obito piped in from his silent spot next to Kakashi. “They have more time to hide their arousal as compared to male alphas. Male alphas usually get hard right on the spot and there is no hiding it if they are to wear flowy fabrics like silk.”

Rin snorted.

Obito’s grin was tauntingly mischievous. “If it happened during a clan’s feast, _in front of someone you wanted to court_ , you’re doomed,” he added, cackling deviously. “Wear cotton to be safe.”

This time, Rin truly burst out to mad giggling.

Kakashi side-eyed Obito’s amused smirk and wondered if there was a story behind that.

“Correct,” Minato nodded, grimacing wider as he did so. “Anyway, embarrassing boner stories aside,” he said suddenly, obviously shifting the topic as his index finger moved to what that was supposed to be ovary ducts in normal woman, although this one was not of the typical shape that Kakashi could recall from his first lesson. “Similar to us and male beta, they produced sperm too,” he tapped the diagram once. “Although it is positioned differently, it functions the same as our own seminal vesicle and prostate gland.”

Kakashi sensed Rin and Konan moving before they were suddenly leaning over each of his shoulders to look at the diagram too.

"Female alphas are easier to pleasure because of that too," Rin hummed, pointing at the diagram. "Since their prostate gland is up there at their lower hips, teasing there is easier as opposed to male alphas. Applying pressure over their hips usually would do the job."

"While in male alphas and beta, you have to slowly stretch them so that you can painlessly find that sweet spot somewhere up their ass," Konan added with a pleasant smile as if that was a totally normal thing to comment. "I mean, that surely will make them squirm more, which is totally fun, but it is obviously harder to accomplish as compared to female alpha."

There was a beat of silence, both on the real world and in Kakashi’s own mindscape.

Then, Naruto started it.

The blonde hooted, howling gleeful laughter that has way too much resemblance as his former master, while simultaneously making Kakashi cringed at the sudden loudness. At the outside world, Obito groaned, cheeks flushed pink as he repeatedly banged his head to his knees, mumbling something about a perverted little sister. Kakashi could vaguely hear Sakura letting out a long pondering humming sound, the exact same time Sasuke started snickering. Somewhere in his background, Yahiko squawked embarrassingly loud, and when Kakashi risked a glance at him, the orange-haired was staring at Konan in utter bafflement and disbelief.

Minato was gaping. Widely.

“Rin!” the man shouted once he gathered himself the next few seconds; blue eyes still wide in utter disbelief. “You’re too young to—”

"I blame Obito's suitors," Rin said, her voice suddenly turned stern and venomous. "This knowledge is on them."

Obito froze.

Minato immediately halted his incoming lecture.

“ _What?_ ”

“They’d do anything and everything to get his attention, sensei,” this time, Rin flat-out sneered.

“Riiiiinnn,” Obito whined, reaching out a hand to swat Rin’s thighs. “Stop. Or I disown you. For real.”

Rin ignored him of course.

Minato frowned in confusion, though his eyes did narrow, the paternal rage resurfaced into the calm of his eyes. “What?”

“ _Anything_ and _everything_ to sell themselves as a worthy spouse," Rin repeated.

Kakashi couldn't help but wince at the venom in her words.

“Including explicit descriptions on what they think Obito could do to them, just to sell that pitch of them being a fair partner in the bond.”

Oh boy, if her words could bleed venom, they all were already dead by now.

Konan crinkled her nose. “Desperate,” she chided.

_“In what world would that tactic even work?!”_

Kakashi had to agree with Naruto’s outburst.

 _“Obito’s fourteen,”_ Sakura pointed out, voice soft with horror. _“He is freaking_ ** _fourteen_** _.”_

“You’re _fourteen_ ,” Minato said in a hushed whisper, the exact same time with Sakura’s comment, his disbelieving gaze slowly lowering to seek Obito’s downcast one. “That is hardly an appropriate topic of conversation around you until you’re at least _sixteen_.”

Rin chortled out a dry humourless laugh.

Obito groaned and buried his face to his knees again.

“Rin, stop,” he whined, swatting her again. “Don’t make sensei worried.”

“It started at his tenth birthday,” Rin sneered, determinedly ignoring Obito. “I was there. They didn’t care,” she snorted, placing one hand protectively over Obito’s back. “Some adults they were.”

Minato looked so close like he wanted to flip.

Sakura, on the other hand, totally flipped.

Kakashi winced at the slew of curses that reverberated all over his jumbled mind before he decided to temporarily fuzz out his link with them, wanting to fully focus on the outside world instead.

At least it was a bit calmer out here.

He paid attention to the way Obito was hunched right there next to him, all flushed red in what that Kakashi assumed as embarrassment, with his arms looped over his knees and his face hidden from sight.

It seemed that his friend wasn’t so lucky this time around too.

That was so fucked up, even more so considering that Rin implied it has been going on for a while.

“Does Mikoto know?”

Obito didn’t even raise his head upon Minato’s question, but he did shake his head, albeit too slowly to be noticeable if they were not all shinobi in this room.

“Fugaku?” Minato pressed. “Does he know?”

Obito shook his head again.

Though, he eventually did raise his head up to meet Minato’s now livid gaze.

Kakashi had a bad feeling when Obito seemed to hesitate to speak.

“I told the elders,” the Uchiha eventually mumbled, more to his knees rather than Minato, but with all the chakra-enhanced hearing in this room, they all heard him crystal clear. “They told me I should be grateful to be so loved. I have the least Uchiha blood among the whole clan,” he shrugged, almost sounding dejected despite the faux cheer in his voice, “because great-grandma is an outsider and both Dad and Grandma married a civilian, so I should be grateful that everyone accepted me as an equal.”

Kakashi suddenly felt rage.

That was fucked up in so many different levels.

“So I didn’t bother to tell Mikoto-san,” Obito sighed. “Or Fugaku-san for all that matters,” he added, cracking a tiny grateful smile. “I know they have gotten in a lot of trouble with the elders trying to side with me in so many other things.”

“Obito…,” Minato murmured, raking his fingers through his own hair, clearly disturbed at this revelation. “I thought with a literal legend on your side you will be safe.”

Obito huffed a genuine laugh.

Kakashi noted on the flash of fond adoration in Obito’s eyes.

“Old man is not always around, you know?” Obito pointed with a humoured grin, eyes softened considerably with genuine fondness. “And he is _ancient._ I rather have him rest peacefully in his retirement onsen than bothering him every time someone failed at flirting with me. Let that poor old soul rest.”

 _“That is oddly selfless of Obito,”_ Sakura commented.

Kakashi wasn’t surprised, though. This was the very same boy who would drop everything to help little old ladies around Konoha. King of tardiness, but every single one of the old people in Konoha only has good things to say about him. Prioritising the comfort of whoever this old man was instead of his own was something that the Obito whom Kakashi has idolised all these years would totally do.

“But—”

"It's harmless flirting, sensei," insisted Obito, waving Minato off like it truly did not matter. "Why not we go back to educating Sakuto so that he did not become one of those people?" he added with a teasing grin that was directed in Kakashi's direction, before reaching out a hand to swat Rin's wrist. "And you're grounded, Rin."

“You can’t ground me!” Rin shouted indignantly. “You’re not my mom!”

“I’m your omega. Same thing,” Obito crooned instead, shoving her back to the table behind them. “Go back to your work. You and Konan both. Shoo. Shoo you two. Be useful children for once.”

Konan quirked an eyebrow, clearly amused. “I adore how you seemed to forget that I’m four years older than you and not a part of your pack.”

Obito rolled his eyes.

"I swear to god," Rin started, though for some odd reason, she obliged Obito's words, stomping sulkily back to her pile of paperwork. "You're worse than my actual mom whenever you're in omega mode."

“Try to behave, Rin,” was Obito’s simple retort.

“Ha!”

Kakashi shot Minato a confused gaze, hoping for an explanation. That was one of many interactions between Obito and Rin that confused the hell out of him.

Minato smiled, one hand reaching out to ruffle Kakashi’s hair.

Kakashi tried to not lean into the touch way too much.

"That's the Voice," the man said, tipping his head in Obito's direction. "The omega's voice, as you just witnessed. Think of it like a mother's voice, the persuasive one that occasionally guilt-trips you to do as you were told."

“I did not guilt-trip—”

“YES, YOU DO."

“Rin!”

Minato chuckled, gazing fondly at both of his squabbling students.

“Voice?” Kakashi croaked out, mind trying to backtrack to recall if they have covered this.

 _“I don’t think we have, sensei,”_ Sakura confirmed.

 _“Didn’t remember any mention of this_ ,” Naruto added.

“I didn’t cover it because I thought you know,” Minato’s words both confirmed his doubts and brought his focus back to the real world. “My mistake,” the man admitted, “I hadn’t considered the possibility that you have never been in a situation for you to use yours.”

“So it is another pack thing?” Kakashi asked.

“Yes and no,” Minato answered. “It is more prominent and easily noticeable within a pack, but it can happen anywhere, to anyone, in all situations.”

Kakashi took that in, only opening his mouth once he has digested that information; “What does it do?”

“It demands obedience and compliance,” Minato started, pausing for a moment before resuming. “An alpha’s voice carried a form of paternal authority that demanded obedience in the form a command, while an omega’s voice is the maternal authority,” he added, before gesturing towards the sheepish-looking Obito. “As you can see from what Obito just did, his voice also demanded obedience, but in the more subtle persuasive ways. If it is in a clan with multiple omegas and alphas around, it fell on the ranks of said person to determine who has the most authority over who. It is a form of layered authority, determined by a few factors including strength and age. Beta is at the lowest of the hierarchy. An alpha would typically have the authority over an omega, but an omega of higher rank would have the authority over an alpha of lower rank. Clan Head and Clan Mother are usually at the top of the hierarchy.”

Kakashi pondered on those words, pausing for a moment before asking; “Is it absolute?”

Minato shook his head. “Not entirely. In some cases, you can resist them.”

“It is harder to resist when it comes from an omega, though," Rin complained, lips curling to a pout. "They would make you feel that you have severely disappointed your parents and every single one of your deceased ancestors," she huffed, tossing a crumpled paper in Obito's direction. "They can make you feel like you stole candy from a newborn baby. The lot of manipulative jerks they are.”

It was both adorable and amusing to see Rin persistently tossed more and more of crumpled scrap papers in Obito’s direction. It was even more amusing when Obito simply sighed to his palms, completely resigning himself to be rained down by the crumpled papers Rin was tossing at him.

“An alpha’s voice is easier to resist and fight if you’re stubborn enough to rebel,” Yahiko inputted, redirecting Kakashi’s attention away from his former teammates. “Most people can challenge an alpha’s command if they’re strong enough to resist, but I have never heard anyone successfully win against an omega’s persuasion.”

Kakashi blinked in confusion.

That was not something that he expected.

“Think of it like orders versus request,” Konan interjected. “Like receiving orders from the Hokage versus receiving requests from helpless old ladies on the street,” she explained, forming little figurines of the situation using her origami. “The analogy is that you probably wouldn’t mind saying ‘fuck you’ to the Hokage if you hate that order, but saying the same thing to little old ladies? What are you? Assholes? No. You’re the disappointment of mankind. Shame on you. Go sit at the corner and reflect on your behaviour.”

 _“Harsh,”_ Sasuke commented, sounding oddly amused.

Kakashi frowned.

“So, the omega’s voice utilised our own human emotions against us?” he eventually spoke, pondering his own conclusion out loud, the frown on his forehead deepened. “That is oddly manipulative.”

“BLESS YOU,” Rin cheered, throwing her hands up in the air. “SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS.”

“Finally,” Konan added with a dry smirk. “Bless you, Sakuto.”

Yahiko wheezed in a bout of gleeful laughter.

Obito gaped in utter betrayal.

“Why are you painting me as the bad guy??!”

With that scandalised yell, Obito roused from his seat to tackle the giggling trio, toppling Rin onto Konan in a tangled mess of squabbling teenagers. They squabbled, snarling over one another before there was a crash, and the next thing Kakashi knew was that the three of them have tumbled out of the window, now engaged in a messy spar of fire, water and papers.

Yahiko banged his head onto the floor.

"God damn it, these three...," the orange-haired whimpered against the floor.

Then, Yahiko stood and resignedly walked towards the window, leaping out with a yell for the trio to stop.

“STOP IT, THE THREE OF YOU!”

The fire only got bigger and hotter. The water splashed everywhere. Paper butterflies flitted all over the palace ground.

Minato took that moment of distraction to pay his full attention to Kakashi, only asking when he was sure that the boy seemed to be less overwhelmed.

“Still good to go?” he asked softly, almost inaudible with the loud noises right outside the window.

Kakashi looked up to meet Minato’s gaze. “Only one more left, right?”

Minato nodded.

“Okay.”

Minato exhaled the breath he didn’t realise he was holding, now reaching out for the last scroll. On the other hand, Kakashi tried to not steal a glance in Obito’s direction the moment his gaze landed on the title of the scroll.

This was it. The one thing that he has been dreading.

He wouldn’t be able to look at his friend the same anymore.

But he squared his shoulder anyway as he stared at the diagram, trying to form his own understanding of the sheer bizarreness of a male omega. Unlike the female alpha, this diagram was strange right at first glance.

It honestly didn’t make any sense at all.

“Male omega is considered extremely special and it’s not only because of their unique ability,” Minato started, voice low and stern in the resemblance of the Yondaime Hokage that Kakashi remembered, making Kakashi almost automatically slipped back into ANBU mode. “They’re rare, even among the old clans. In certain countries, Konoha for example, they hardly existed. Kiri has the highest male omega population in the world but even then, they are no more than 18% of Kiri’s whole population.”

 _“I don’t like how Dad feels it is necessary to explain this statistic,”_ Naruto commented softly as if he was dreading Minato's next words. _“I don’t like it one bit.”_

 _“Maybe Yondaime-sama thinks that it is a cool fun fact to know?”_ Sakura said, although her voice didn’t sound convinced at all.

 _“Optimism doesn’t suit you, Sakura,”_ Sasuke deadpanned. _“You have a feeling that Obito has been treated like a prized possession too, didn’t you?”_

_“Good thinking brings good results, Sasuke.”_

Kakashi absolutely adored that Sasuke’s words implied that he too was dreading over the idea that Obito has been treated unfairly by everyone. He could sense the boy’s concern beneath all that snarkiness.

And damn, he was proud. The boy has grown so well.

_“Stop being so sappy, old man.”_

_I’m so proud of youuuu._

_“Fuck you, Kakashi.”_

Though, their argument halted right there. Minato cleared his throat, smiling grimly when Kakashi looked up to meet his gaze.

“Obito was the first omega male born among the Uchiha clan since the past eighty years,” Minato murmured, nodding towards Obito. “Hence, the reason he was both protected and…," he paused, quoting the air as he spoke, eyes now the coldest of blue, "…‘ _harassed’_ by some people in the clan."

 _"Harassed, he says,"_ Sasuke sneered.

 _That is one of the nicest ways to put it,_ Kakashi defended.

“They're said as a rare breed," Minato exhaled, oblivious that his charge was having a mental conversation, cringing as if it pained him to word it like that. "Most known male omega were great people."

"Eh, really?" Kakashi blurted out the exact same time his students echoed him from the mindscape.

Minato grinned.

"They're typically powerful and influential people, to the point it has established a stereotype that every male omega was destined for greatness,” he beamed, gazing outside the window where they could catch a glimpse of Obito in the midst of all the fire, paper and water, before his gaze flitted back to Kakashi. “The lines of Mizukage were the most obvious examples. The generations of the seven swordsmen of Kiri. The Sandaime Kazekage,” he listed down, shaking his head in amusement. “They’re not simple nobodies.”

“Who else?” Kakashi asked, honestly curious now.

“The Nidaime,” Minato said with a smile. “The only one of his generation in Konoha, I think.”

Kakashi blinked in disbelief.

 _“That old man is trouble,”_ Sasuke hissed. _“The worst kind of enemy you could ever have.”_

 _“The best ally, though,”_ Naruto interjected. _"Fighting alongside him was the best experience."_

“Then, we have Danzou,” Minato spat the name through gritted teeth, grimacing as if it physically pained him. “Also the only one of his generation in my village,” he said with a weak smile. “Orochimaru-sama,” he added with an amused smile, shaking his head. “The only one of his generation in Konoha. Then we have Inuzuka Hitokuchi, Tsume’s mate, Konoha’s most vicious tracker. He is the only male omega in my generation.”

 _“I’m seeing a pattern,”_ Sakura murmured.

Kakashi saw the pattern too.

“Does Konoha only have one male omega per generation?” he blurted out, because that couldn’t be a coincidence.

“As far as the record says, yes” Minato hummed, shrugging. “Statistically speaking, there is a constant gap of two to five years between the birth of one male omega to another in Konoha.”

 _“Statistically,”_ Sakura hummed. _“It’s almost like it was planned.”_

Sasuke swore. _“Like hell that is a coincidence.”_

“Why?” Kakashi asked, because surely that could not be a coincidence.

Minato shrugged again. “Who knows?” he hummed, smiling warily. “Maybe it is a curse. Maybe it is a coincidence. Maybe the gods knew that Konoha didn’t deserve more male omegas. No one knew,” he huffed, straightening up to smooth the parchment. “But they’re extremely rare in Konoha.”

 _“No shit,”_ Sasuke commented.

"So that's why they're so special?" Kakashi had to ask because if Obito has been subjected to courtship at such a young age because he was a rare breed, that was fucked up as hell. "Because they're rare and stereotypically destined for greatness?"

“That, that, and because of their body and genetic too. Kids that came from omega male mothers are typically far superior from their peers,” Minato affirmed, jerking his head towards the scroll, tapping on a specific paragraph.

Kakashi activated his sharingan as he read, memorising everything into the eternal memory of his sharingan.

“There is a specific mutation that only present in a male omega that made their children stronger and reportedly much smarter than normal children,” Minato’s voice floated in his background, vocalising the text that Kakashi was currently reading. “They typically give birth to stronger shinobi.”

 _“I hate what that implied,”_ Sakura murmured.

 _“Rin implied that Obito’s courtship started when he was ten,”_ Sasuke sneered. _“My clan thirst for strength. Go figure what that meant.”_

Kakashi refused to figure out what that would mean.

"Then, there is the thing about their body too,” Minato whispered, softer now as the sound of the spar outside faded to one that sounded less like a war and more like a normal shinobi's spar outside. "They're the only one who has both sets of genitals."

Kakashi blinked, remembering the first time he treated Obito.

“I remember detecting that while treating Obito...,” he said, hunching his body sheepishly. “Uh, how does that function, actually?”

Minato’s smile was gentle and understanding.

“For urination," the man stated matter-of-factly. "However, there have been recorded mating between a male omega with a female omega or beta, so although this might be irrelevant to us, it is also important to know," he explained slowly as if wanting to accommodate Kakashi to digest this. “Do remember that they’re incapable of impregnating, even though their partner is capable of conceiving. Take note of this in your social interaction with them. Be tactful, because not many of these couples want to invite an alpha or male beta into their relationship for the sake of fathering them a child,” Minato’s tone switched to a stern one, and Kakashi quickly filed that into one of the many social rules he just learnt throughout this lesson. 

_“Can’t they just artificially fertilise their egg and implant it into one of them through surgery?”_ Sakura pointed out. _“That way, they don’t have to invite anyone into their relationship. It could be an anonymous donor.”_

Kakashi parroted her questions to Minato.

Minato was clearly taken aback with that question.

“Orochimaru-sama has proposed that idea once,” the blonde man said, still staring at Kakashi with that surprised wide eye. “But a few of the village elders and the whole civilian council were against it. They said that it is unnatural.”

 _“Of course they will,”_ Sakura sighed.

“I’m surprised you know about that, Sakuto,” Minato murmured, lips quirking to a prideful smile before he tapped his knuckles on the scroll again. "Anyway, male omegas do not have sperm like us, but they are capable of getting hard and ‘ejaculate’,” he nodded when Kakashi shot him a baffled stare, chuckling as he did so. “The liquid they released while ejaculating has a completely different make-up with ours, but the same make-up as the one that their female counterparts released.”

 _So basically, the same thing as squirting,_ Kakashi thought dryly.

He has forgotten that his mind was linked with his students.

 _“Squirting?”_ Surprisingly, it was Sakura who asked first. _“Sensei, what is that?”_

She sounded genuinely confused and baffled.

_Oh fuck._

_“Yeah, I guess it will be pretty similar to squirting,”_ Naruto hummed.

Kakashi almost facepalmed upon hearing that. Of course Naruto would know. Two years on the road with the perverted sannin. The kid was bound to know some stuff.

_“You know?!”_

That was Sasuke. He too, sounded genuinely baffled.

 _“Um, yeah?”_ Naruto squeaked, now starting to sound uncomfortable. _“You don’t?”_

 _“No,”_ was Sasuke's quick reply.

 _"What is it?”_ Sakura asked. _“Naruto? Sensei?”_

Kakashi didn’t hear anything more from Sasuke but he has this feeling that Sasuke was as curious as she was too.

 _“Uh, sensei…?”_ Naruto squeaked.

 _No, Naruto,_ Kakashi determinedly replied. _I’m not telling them anything._

_“But you bring it up!”_

_“What is it?!”_ Sakura asked again, louder this time.

_“Kaka-sensei!”_

_Nope._

“Sakuto?”

Kakashi happily ignored Naruto to pay attention to Minato. “Yes, Minato-san?”

“Still good to go? There’s a little bit more.”

_“SENSEI!”_

Kakashi pretended to not hear that indignant yell. Nope.

“Yes,” he responded to Minato, eyes crinkling in his eye-smile again.

Minato smiled.

“Look here,” he then said, his index circling around the bizarrely present uterus in what that was supposed to be male anatomy drawing. “Male omegas do have a uterus, which is connected to an opening…," he traced his finger down the figure of the uterus, passed the cervix to stop right at the drawn circle at the crotch of the drawing. Minato nudged the scroll with his knuckles, unrolling more parchment to show another diagram that depicted a larger version of the one that was in the drawn circle, lips curled to a grim line as he ended, “…right there between the anus and the testicles.”

Kakashi couldn't help but thought that was an awfully small hole for any kind of sexual activity, let alone to squeeze out a baby.

That was the moment his pups chose to be distracted from their previous curiousity.

_“If Yondaime-sama’s next words have anything related to the idea that male omega is the best fuckhole, I swear I’m going to—”_

Sakura didn’t even get to finish her threat.

“They are also reportedly the best kind of body for sexual pleasure, Sakuto," Minato said, almost emotionless with the technical tone he has adopted, although the gaze he directed at Obito was that of fierce paternal protectiveness. "The opening is smaller than the vagina a female omega and beta typically have. Even the widest set of a male omega's opening would be far tighter than any of their female counterparts."

“What,” Kakashi breathed out.

That was—

“Doesn’t it hurt them during intercourse then?” he hissed.

The smile that Minato gave him was wry and humourless.

“They do experience heat the exact same way as female omega would, Sakuto.”

Kakashi had to backtrack to their earlier lesson so that he could properly understand what Minato meant with that.

 _“The two types of heat,”_ Sakura emotionlessly supplied for him. _“The annual one, randomly triggered at least once a year for a mature omega but can vary from a person to person. They're highly fertile at that time, so a child was almost guaranteed if intercourse happened. The excessive hormones they released during this period would cause them to have no control over their own mind and action once the heat has fully set,”_ she explained, quoting Minato’s earlier lesson word-to-word. _“But I believe Yondaime-sama was referring to the second type, the normal heat, which is triggered when the omega is completely aroused. Low to moderate pregnancy chance, depending on their personal cycle. Less hormone release than the annual heat, but the effects were similar.”_

Sakura paused.

 _“Their body would crave for sex, sensei,”_ she murmured softly. _“Every pain and touch would turn to pleasure as long as they were in that state.”_

 _“Basically the best fuckhole around,”_ Sasuke sneered.

Kakashi hated that Sasuke was right.

 _“Correct me if I’m wrong,”_ Naruto started, voice dredging with horror. “ _But Rin implied that Obito has been thrown into a courtship with adult alphas since he was around ten or so. Right?”_

 _“Yes,”_ Sakura chimed in.

Sakura sounded positively murderous.

Sasuke burst to unhinged mad laughter.

Kakashi grimaced. 

Minato apparently took that as a sign that he has understood everything. The man let out a heavy sigh, hunching his body for a few moments as if to regain his own wits before he lifted his head up and cracked a tiny smile in Kakashi’s direction. He reached out a hand, ruffling silver spikes with that familiar warmth of Kakashi’s own past.

“I know that you’re a good kid, Sakuto,” he said, sounding both like a threat and a hope in the same time. “Whoever that you would eventually be mated to…”

Kakashi blinked, and for that split second, he saw a flash of silver in Minato’s blonde, pitch darkness over the calm blue, pale white over Minato's sun-kissed tan and a wolfish grin over Minato’s kind smile.

_Dad._

“…I hope that you will treat them well,” the man said, grinning, hand so warm as it threaded through his hair. “Okay, my boy?”

Kakashi’s breath hitched in his throat.

_“Okay, Dad.”_

* * *

Nagato knew that the new Ame would attract all kind of attention.

The good. The bad. The unknown.

This was one of the unknowns.

“I’m going to be honest with you, baby cousin,” Kushina whispered, lips curled in a grim line while eyes fixed on the decapitated head in Nagato’s hands. “We should not make this man our enemy. If there is anyone who would be capable to stand against Sakuto, Uchiha Izuna would be that person.”

“I have no intention to,” Nagato murmured back. “I have heard of his stories, nee-chan.”

“Terrifying, isn’t he?” Kushina hummed. “Worst kind of enemy we could have.”

“Yet he could be our most powerful ally.”

Kushina sighed, eyes softened as she met his gaze. She reached out a hand, brushing his bangs away from his eyes and planted a hand over his cheek.

“He is not fond of traitors, Nagato-kun,” the red-haired woman murmured. “I wouldn’t be so hopeful if I’m you.”

“I wouldn’t allow him to hurt you, nee-chan,” Nagato said, a promise despite the softness of his voice. “Not you. Not nii-san. Or Mikoto-san, Fugaku-san, Rin and Obito for all that matters.”

Kushina smiled forlornly.

“I appreciate that, baby cousin.”

Nagato squeezed her arm. An assurance. A promise.

He wouldn't let anyone took whatever remnants of blood relatives that he still has away from him. He would fight to protect them. Even if the threat came from a literal legend.

“We should get Mikoto down here,” Kushina said with that same forlorn smile. “She knew him best.”

"Will that increases the likelihood of an alliance?"

Perhaps the love of a grandfather to his granddaughter would triumph over decades worth of iron-clad principles?

Kushina heaved a heavy breath.

“We can only hope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're satisfied with all the biology bullshit I conjure up for this AU. I might miss a lot of things, so I totally would appreciate your comments or questions just in case I need to retcon it in future chapters. Lol
> 
> And boy, you have no idea how excited I am to write Izuna in.
> 
> See you in the next two weeks! (If I didn't forget my update date again.)
> 
> P/s: That thing about Obito is all the elders' work. The Uchiha as a clan only engage in the courtship thing because the elders insist on it. Deep inside, most are with Fugaku and Mikoto but they didn't fight because the elders hold a good portion of authority over them.


	23. Ice cold fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed. And I'm sleepy as fuck.
> 
> Also, LOVE ME FOR MY DEDICATION Y'ALL --> ****[Lady Tria's Handbook of A/B/O Universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19222252/chapters/45703933)

* * *

_“_ _Okay, Dad.”_

It took an effort to not react.

Sakuto was far older than Kakashi. Unlike the cherubic softness of baby fats that Kakashi has yet to shed, Sakuto’s face was sharper, shaping up to the angular edge of a young adult rather than a child. His hair, although equally gravity-defying as Kakashi’s, was a bit tamer as it dangled just below his shoulder blades, an oddly eerie resemblance to the deceased White Fang.

Sakuto didn’t look exactly like Kakashi.

Yet, Minato couldn’t ignore that silver hair. He couldn’t pretend that he didn’t notice the way those slanted narrow eyes crinkled to match Sakuto’s emotions. He couldn’t notice the boy’s high cheekbones and wasn’t immediately be reminded of a deceased mentor and a lost dream—

—the lost dream he had, the hopeful wish watching his pup grow to adulthood.

Those were all Hatake’s traits.

Minato looked up from his hunch to meet Sakuto’s blank mismatched gaze.

Yet the only thing he saw was _Kakashi._

It took a real effort to NOT react.

* * *

**_“Ku…Kurama?”_ **

Upon hearing that stuttered hitched gasp, Kurama immediately wished that he had brought Naruto along.

**_“No…Not Kurama….”_ **

He really wished that he didn’t leave Naruto behind in the plane that he shared with the kits. He needed Naruto now. Naruto was better at talking than Kurama ever was. 

This wasn’t how he expected his meeting with Isobu would end up.

Sure, the Isobu that he knew was a bit emotional as compared to the rest of the bijuu, but it was not to this extreme.

Not to this extreme.

Kurama has expected to be faced with bafflement and aggression when he ascended to this plane. It was expected, considering that two Kyuubi in the same place will make even the most ignorant of human to be suspicious. He has already sensed his counterpart inside Kushina—the other Kyuubi was sealed tight with a seal far more superior than the one that was used to seal him inside his Kushina years ago.

It was odd to sense the presence of his counterpart but unable to pick up the slightest sign of bijuu consciousness from Kushina. The Kyuubi inside Kushina was deadly silent. He wasn’t asleep, because Kurama would still be able to communicate with him if it was the case, but there was a strong barrier caging the other Kyuubi. It silenced the other Kyuubi, kept him caged without a means of escape.

The seal was far superior to the one that was once used to seal him.

Even with quick sensing he did as Kushina embraced Kakashi the other day, he could sense the intricacy of the seal on Kushina’s abdomen.

It wasn’t Mito’s seal. At least not solely hers.

Mito was cautious, but never to the point that was borderline paranoid.

From what he picked up from the thrumming seal on Kushina’s body, the seal applied to imprison his counterpart was created in a way that even the smallest leak of chakra was nigh impossible.

Kushina was just a literal container, with no chances of taking advantage of her bijuu’s chakra.

Kurama needed to have his kit change that. There must be something in the Uzumaki’s archives that Kakashi would be able to use to alter Kushina’s seal to provide a bit of freedom to the other Kyuubi. There was a nagging feeling of paranoia at the back of his head, urging him to prepare for an unseen threat. The wind was stirring—not in a literal sense, but Kurama has this odd gut feeling that something was moving, and whatever that thing was, it was moving _fast_.

He rather has this Kushina sorted stuff out with his counterpart and was ready to fight as a Jinchuuriki before whatever this unknown threat started to become actual nuisances.

Not that Kurama wished for anything to happen, but that paranoia still bothered him.

He knew he was missing something—something that will destroy the effort of peace his kits were currently working on—but he didn’t know what it was. It was such an intense feeling that something was about to go wrong that Kurama felt agitated if he didn’t do anything to prepare for it.

Call him paranoid, but if there was one thing that Kurama learnt in his millenniums of life, it was to never ignore his own gut feeling.

He might be wrong, and things would be perfectly at peace as their plan to shape the future sail smoothly, but Kurama rather not take any chances.

His first step was to gather the bijuu and somehow made them work with their respective jinchuuriki.

Easier said than done.

He has hoped for Isobu to be the easiest, knowing that the Sanbi will remain a gentle soul as the one he remembered no matter how much his mess-up has changed the timeline. On the jinchuuriki side, this Rin would wreak havoc in hell and come back victorious if that was it needed to protect her pack. Those two should be the easiest to persuade to work together.

Should be.

Judging from this unexpected reaction from Isobu, Kurama just knew that his job wouldn’t be easy.

Dear Rikudou-Sennin, how he wished he had brought Naruto along.

He wasn’t equipped to deal with this kind of reaction.

 ** _“No,”_** Isobu murmured, shaking his head woefully. **_“Not my Kurama.”_**

Kurama frowned, reasonably baffled.

He should’ve brought his human along with him. Hell, maybe he should bring Sakura along with Naruto too, because at least the two of them would have the emotional requirement to deal with this. Sasuke can stay behind with Kakashi because that annoying brat would be no help what so ever.

**_“You’re not my Kurama.”_ **

Kurama resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

 ** _“Correct,”_** he affirmed, cutting straight to the point to evade more of this weirdness. **_"Long story, so I rather have everyone here while I explain. Can you summon them?"_**

Isobu paused and stared blankly at Kurama.

Then, glossy sheen of tears clouded the pink of his eyes, the underbite of his mouth trembled like he wanted to cry before he choked a sob and retreated back into his shell, leaving Kurama in utter confusion upon the muffled sobs coming from inside the shell.

Confused and utterly annoyed, Kurama buried his face into his palms and resisted a groan.

He could totally understand Kakashi now.

God damn it.

* * *

Konan cherished her friendship with Rin.

Growing up as orphans with only the companion of his two brothers, Konan didn’t get a lot of interactions with other girls. Even after Akatsuki grew and started gaining more members, most of the new members that joined them were males.

The only new girl that joined them was Kirie.

Back then, Konan has tried so hard to make friends with the cheerful girl.

But Kirie was a gentle, soft-spoken girl—a direct contrast to Konan’s sharp unyielding personality—and finding an equal ground between them was hard to do. The dark-haired girl also openly admitted that Konan’s whole presence intimidated her. It was to the point that Kirie was always on edge, seeing Konan as a superior, just because Konan was far more powerful as a shinobi than she was.

Thus, even as the only two girls in the whole organisation, they have a hard time being close friends.

When Kirie died in a battle, Konan’s grief was that of losing a subordinate rather than a friend.

Then, Rin came crashing into her life, bringing all sorts of chaos and new experience for the whole team.

It has not even been a month yet since Rin entered her life, yet Konan felt like she has known the younger girl for _years_. They clicked so easily that their tentative friendship now has started to feel like it has evolved to a bond of comradeship that could rival her own pack bond.

They were close, often backing each other up against the shenanigan of their equally _concerning_ brothers.

Rin was the voice of compassion that helped Konan dealt with Nagato’s recent tendency of succumbing to anxiety. Konan was Rin’s voice of reason that aided her to deal with Obito’s suicidal recklessness.

They were immediate friends. Perfect partners in combat, even when it hasn't even been long since they were introduced to each other. Konan felt like she has known everything about the wonderful human Rin was, yet it was still so fascinating to observe the brown-haired girl being so focused on her tasks.

Rin and Mari were hunched together around the metal table, whispering hushed words that only medics would understand as they poked and prodded the decapitated head on the table. Both of them were in the medic mode now, rapidly spouting out hypothesis and ideas on what this odd creature truly was.

Their lazy morning has ended the moment Kushina and Nagato returned with Setsuna, Mari and this odd decapitated head in tow.

Sakuto’s reaction to their arrival was concerning.

The first thing that Konan noticed the moment Sakuto’s gaze landed on the decapitated head was _recognition,_ which was then followed with a shift in his whole expression. Sakuto switched from the adorably overwhelmed idiot to a cold experienced soldier in that split second—his whole body tensed up, while his expression contorted to that of a solemn shinobi gearing up for battle.

Konan wasn’t the only who noticed Sakuto’s concerning reaction.

The rest of them noticed it too, and the figurative warning bells in their head immediately rang at full force.

Whatever the odd creature was, Sakuto knew exactly what it was, what it meant—and it was not good news.

That was the reason they all have ignored Sakuto’s slip-up, regardless of how interesting it was to hear their reserved enigma accidentally addressed the Yellow Flash as his ‘ _Dad’._

Konan knew that Minato was shaken, though.

She also had a distinct hunch that Minato was not going to let Sakuto’s slip-up slipped away and forgotten.

But there was much more important thing to address, moreover with the news that Konoha’s remaining legend was lingering at their borders. Thus, they decided to split up. Yahiko took Obito to Uzushio, getting a headstart for a quick evacuation plan for the civilians should Sakuto's meeting with Izuna ended up in a sour note. Sakuto and Nagato remained with their elders to discuss their next course of action while Rin and Mari have been immediately distracted upon noticing the regenerative properties of the decapitated head.

As for her, Yahiko has made sure that she was nowhere near Obito for the rest of the day—a decision made out of fear of another destructive spar. Thus, she was sent to join Rin and Mari in the lab, while both boys went out to Uzushio to prepare the plans for emergency evacuation. The two medics were far too distracted with pondering on their subject, so much so, that Konan has lost them the moment they started to dabble on the potentials of culturing the cells from the decapitated head to form artificial flesh and limbs for future use.

Konan has decided to back away the moment their conversation started to sound like they were speaking in ancient runes. She wasn’t educated enough to understand their line of thoughts.

Thus, she stood not far behind them, learning as she observed the two medics at work. Standing directly across her at the other side of the lab was Setsuna, with his arms crossed over his chest and jaw locked tight as his dark gaze narrowed on the decapitated head.

The man was on edge, like almost every other Konoha natives in this building.

Mikoto and Fugaku were all serious too, shifting their cheerful mood the moment they were told about the most recent threat hanging over their borders. Kushina’s smile was strained as the topic was brought up while Minato was so eerily calm and quiet that it has instantly reminded Konan that this man was feared by all five great shinobi nation.

Oddly enough, Rin and Obito didn’t display the same kind of tension as they all showed, even when the legendary name of Uchiha Izuna was brought up.

“Do you think Sakuto will take me to the meeting too? Or take Gramps back here?” Rin pondered out loud, snapping her latex gloves off as she observed Mari arranged the petri dishes in the fridge. “I have lots of questions.”

_Gramps._

While Mikoto, the actual granddaughter of Uchiha Izuna, addressed the man with a deep respectful tone in her voice, both Obito and Rin addressed the legend as if he was any other old man they’re familiar with.

Needless to say, the only Uchiha in this lab wasn't okay with that.

“Have some respect, kid,” Setsuna snapped. “Don’t call him that.”

Rin crinkled her nose. “He doesn’t seem to mind I call him that the last time we met.”

Setsuna growled.

“You will not show that kind of disrespect in his presence, brat,” he snarled, projecting that infamous Alpha’s dominance. “We don’t want to give him any more reasons to be our enemy.”

This time, Rin openly rolled her eyes.

“He is not that scary. All of you are overreacting," she muttered, trotting across the room to retrieve a storage scroll. "Gramps is just like a grumpy huge teddy bear actually," Rin added, snorting a quiet laugh as the last word left her lips.

Setsuna looked like he was about to have a heart attack and a seizure both at the same time.

“YOU—”

“Ask Obito,” Rin cut him off, dismissive and uncaring. “He can confirm that Gramps is, indeed, a grumpy huge teddy bear.”

The corners of Rin’s lips quirked in a slight victorious smile when Setsuna immediately recoiled, and that smile only grew wider as he eventually decided to sulk in the corners, arms now crossed over his chest again, jaw locked as if he was swallowing his own arguments.

Satisfied with his silence, Rin hummed happily as she sauntered back to the table.

Then, she stopped.

She halted in her path. The scroll fell from her slackened grip. Rin stood there, motionless, with her glazed eyes staring ahead, devoid of any semblance of focus or emotion. She remained like that, seemingly like her mind has been spirited away from her own body.

It went on for a few seconds before Konan decided that she needed to address the matter before Setsuna plunged into a reckless reaction and probably made the situation worse.

Konan reached out to the younger girl, only to halt upon seeing the little smile on Rin’s face.

“It’s okay,” the jinchuuriki murmured, softly, with her eyes still glazed with that blank stare. “I’m here for you.”

Konan frowned in utter confusion.

God. This was just like how Sakuto’s dissociative moments were like.

"I'm here for you," Rin said again, firmer this time. "Trust me."

Konan wondered if it was a jinchuuriki thing.

Rin’s glazed eyes then fluttered shut, her smile grew softer with fondness and her next words were almost silent yet so overwhelmingly brimming with understanding love;

 _“_ Trust me _, Isobu.”_

* * *

_“Have you no love for us?”_

_It’s a stupid question._

_It was a really stupid question—an inane desperate quest of a child—but it was necessary._

_A quest to seek validation. To break through that ice-cold shell and sought the answers she has been asking ever since her first memory. The very question she uttered as she toddled after the old man, scrambling on her short legs, trying to keep up even after he left her behind in the dust._

**_“Have you no love for us?”_ **

_It was the very thing she asked upon seeing her peers being spoiled rotten by their grandparents._

**_Do you not have any love for us, Grandpa?_ **

_Stupid question, really._

_Mikoto never got her answer._

_His silence still hurts, though._

* * *

“You know that my presence wouldn’t change anything.”

Mikoto uttered those words with a voice so calm and smile so incredibly poised, a feat only suitable to her position as the Clan Mother for the Uchiha clan. She didn’t show any signs that she was shaken, nor did she display any signs that deep down, the terror has gripped her heart and washed her whole body cold.

She was calm, controlled and poised.

But Fugaku has inched closer, offering his support in silence. His warmth lined up against her trembling form, his soul reached out to embrace hers—an offer of intimate comfort that only exclusive for her—and his hand felt grounding at the small of her back.

Mikoto’s smile grew a bit more amused and genuine as Nagato’s purple eyes followed Fugaku’s subtle movement.

Such a cute one, Kushina’s little cousin was.

“But aren’t you his granddaughter?” Nagato asked, with a voice so incredibly innocent and hopeful that Mikoto has almost forgotten that this boy is just six years younger than her.

It made something warm grew in her chest, washing the coldness of the dread away as it grew.

How lovely it was, for a child that was bred, born and raised in warring time like Nagato to still maintain that fragment of innocence and child-like hope. It was hard to remember that Nagato was only eighteen years old to her twenty-four. It was hard to think that there was so little in their age differences when his eyes lit up with so much hope despite everything that he has gone through while her eyes, on the other hand, have been weathered down with too many fear.

Fear, because this war didn't seem to want to end. Fear, because she was technically a traitor now. Fear, for Itachi's fate, should she and Fugaku were caught as traitors and her little boy would be growing up surrounded with the scorns from the village.

Fear, because her grandfather has never been able to tolerate traitors.

And she’s a traitor now.

But she didn’t show that.

Kushina and Minato might never be bothered with the hierarchy of a clan, but they were the only one left from their respective clan. Things were different for Mikoto. The Uchiha was a big clan that has always stressed on the importance of the system, on the importance to understand the chain of respect between all of them, and with two growing young Alphas in this room, Mikoto couldn’t afford to show a poor example of a calm and collected elder to them.

As their superior, she was responsible to teach these boys the rule of clan-life, moreover with the fact that neither Nagato or Sakuto has ever been raised in a clan. They might be inferior to her position in term of ranks right now, but sometime in the future, they both were going to stand on top—probably as the heads of their respective clans.

There were duties that they need to learn, especially if one would consider that both of them were the hopes to revive the Uzumaki and the Hatake.

These boys need an elder to guide them, just like how Mikoto has Izuna to teach her everything that she needed to know as the future leader of the clan.

The first thing that her grandfather taught her was to never lose her cool.

She was taught that her destiny was to be the Clan Mother long before she could even manipulate her chakra. She was taught that she will become the backbone for the whole clan. It was her duty to keep the Head upright, to ensure the clan members moved as a unit and to make sure that the nasty little voices of the elders remained in their place within the clan.

It was her duty to maintain peace and balance within the clan, even if that would mean she has to steel herself weeding out the bad apples out.

Her grandfather taught her that.

Mikoto was told that without her, the whole clan will become crippled. If she lost herself, the whole system will collapse.

_Keep a calm head on your shoulder._

So Mikoto inhaled deeply, fixing her gaze on Nagato’s anxious eyes with unyielding steel nerves that have been forged and reinforced by the fire that was her own grandfather.

The boy was anxious—reasonably, of course—and Mikoto knew that the young Alpha was depending on her calm to keep himself from losing his own cool. Sakuto was calmer than Nagato, but that was probably attributed to the possibility that he knew what exactly Setsuna and Mari have brought back. The casual air among them was gone the moment Mikoto arrived here, and in its place was the air of uncertainty. They all have immediately discarded their duties to crowd around Sakuto, curious as they observed the decapitated head in Sakuto’s hands.

As for Mikoto, she was lost in her own memories.

It has been a long time since the last Mikoto saw one of those things.

But she didn’t say anything. Even after she was seated here, and that now everyone’s attention was on persuading her to placate her grandfather to become their ally....

Mikoto didn’t say anything.

Despite the hanging threat over her own head, she didn’t say anything.

She remained calm, as she was expected to be.

_You’re fearless even against the worst of foes._

Mikoto cracked an assuring smile to both of the teenage boys in front of her, fearless despite the idea of having to antagonise her own grandfather.

Oh, she didn’t like the thought at all. Her grandfather was the last person she will ever consider antagonising, moreover when she has a big figurative sign hanging on her neck labelling her as a traitor to Konoha.

But she remembered the lessons he had taught her.

_Be fearless. Show no fear._

Thus, she fixed her calm gaze on Nagato’s anxious purple orbs, before shifting her calm stare to meet Sakuto’s confusion-addled gaze. Calm. She's their elder now and it was her duty to remain calm and keep them grounded. Mikoto allowed her eyes fluttered shut—a picture of serenity and poise—as she brought her teacup to her lips, sipping slowly as if they didn't have a literal threat hanging on their borders.

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was stern.

“Do you know why Fugaku is the _third_ Clan Head of the Uchiha in these seventy years since the formation of Konoha?”

Sakuto jerked—just slightly, but Mikoto noticed it—while Nagato blinked almost instantly, now looking more confused than anxious.

Fugaku sighed.

Mikoto quirked a devious smile.

“Our first Clan Head ruled for nine years before he randomly went mad, and later disappeared without a trace,” she started, still serenely sipping on her tea. “Our second Clan Head ruled for over _five decades_ , only stepping down six years ago, on the day Fugaku is betrothed to me and was made to take over the responsibilities,” she paused and waited, only speaking when the teacup felt colder in her palm. “Why is that, do you think? Fifty-five years is a long time for one person to rule a clan.”

Silence.

Then, like an automated reaction, both Nagato and Sakuto redirected their questioning gaze towards Fugaku.

Fugaku winced, took in a sharp inhale and let out a heavy sigh.

“All the candidates before me died,” he stated simply then.

There was a hitched breath coming from Sakuto, his mismatched eyes litting up as if he just gained enlightenment.

"The wars," the boy pondered out loud. "Of course."

Mikoto quirked a smile and shook her head.

"It wasn't only the war that killed them. Some of them fell to the temptations of their own heart," she explained, smiling oh so sweetly when the boy's mismatched gaze shifted to meet hers. "My grandfather executed them. The other candidates. His own sons and daughters. Grandsons and granddaughters.”

Vibrantly coloured eyes widened as they sought her calm dark gaze.

“ _Execute_ them?” Sakuto hissed. “But, they’re his own children—”

“Heirs,” Mikoto corrected. “We’re his heirs. Not his children.”

The confusion on both of Sakuto and Nagato’s faces was the exact replica of the confusion that was on her face twenty-years ago when her mother told her this. 

When she was told to address Izuna as a figure of authority and nothing else, Mikoto was utterly confused.

Naturally, a stubborn child as she was, Mikoto didn't listen to her own mother, much to the man’s fearful exasperation.

Her poor mother. She has given that poor man constant heartache and worries for stubbornly going against his advice. At that age, Mikoto didn’t fully understand the reason her mother was so scared to antagonise or anger any of the pure Uchiha. She was far too young to understand that despite the genuine love her father showered her mother with, the man was still an outsider.

‘War spoils’, as some of the elders have whispered. Tajima annexed her maternal ancestor into the clan as their slaves long before Konoha started. A descendant of the warring era's war spoils. That was what her mother was. Mikoto's mother wasn't an Uchiha, despite carrying the crest upon his back. 

Only after her birth did the whispers stopped, but the damage has been done and the poor man feared to provoke any of the pure Uchiha, especially with the absence of his Alpha.

Mikoto didn’t make it any easier for him.

Out of all of Uchiha Izuna’s heirs, Mikoto was the only one who persistently called him with the familiar name of ‘Grandpa'.

Mikoto has lost her father to enemies of Konoha. The woman has fallen as a hero, leaving her only daughter to inherit her duties as the next-in-line to the clan’s leadership, the Clan Heir from Izuna’s bloodline.

Not that it mattered to young Mikoto. She didn’t care of her role as the Clan Heir. All that she cared for was her own longing for a paternal presence.

Mikoto wanted a paternal figure in her life.

Not a patriarch. Not a sire.

She wanted a _grandfather._

It didn't change anything. If anything, she was quickly labelled as a suicidal rebel by the rest of her kin. Bad blood, they called her, and that implication was blamed directly to her mother’s origins.

She almost hated Izuna for it.

But the old man was the only who never treated her mother differently. The treatment Izuna bestowed on them, although cold and uncaring for most of the times, was the exact same with the treatment he gave to people with pure Uchiha blood in their veins.

It was hard for Mikoto hate that man after that. Not when her mother so obviously adored the man.

Mikoto adored Izuna too.

“Uchiha Izuna has never been mated to anyone,” Fugaku explained quietly, answering Nagato's unspoken question. “He bedded multiple omegas and betas to bear his heirs, but never claimed anyone.”

Thus, it hurts.

To know that her own grandfather has never seen her as anything more than an heir.

It hurts so terribly—to know that her last direct blood-relative wouldn’t hesitate to take a blade to her throat should she made one wrong move.

He has done it multiple times before, without an ounce of hesitation.

All of her aunts, uncles and their children—if they didn’t fall to the blade of the enemies as heroes of Konoha, they ended up at the blade of their own father, as war criminals and traitors.

Sure, the execution was justified.

War crimes. Horrible things they have done within the chaos of the first two wars, when the bad habit from the Warring Era still strong within their culture. Things like turning their backs on the village. Greed. Rape. Cowardice in the battlefield. Manipulation of helpless civilians. Abuse of the slaves.

They weren't perfect. There always some bad apples amongst the clan. It's human nature, to be tempted by outside forces—power, ego, lust, money and influence—and the law of both the Uchiha and Konoha would rule them out guilty regardless. Her problematic relatives got themselves into troubles, knowing full well that the symbol they wore upon their backs and over their foreheads would sentence them to death should they were ever caught.

It was justified, for these criminals to be sentenced to death.

But it hurts to know that their own patriarch wouldn’t hesitate to do the job himself.

_Have you no love for us?_

She asked that question every time it happened. She always stood there as the crowd dispersed away from the execution ground, a lone small form staring longingly at the looming shadow near the puddle of blood. He wouldn’t acknowledge her, his face remained unchanging as he wiped his sword clean, acting as if the blood dripping down his blade was of a stranger’s rather than from his own loins.

But shouldn't there suppose to be a bit of grief in him?

Shouldn’t there be a hurting heart somewhere beneath that ice-cold persona? The heart of a sire who was first betrayed by his own children, and later has to take on the responsibilities of executing them for their crimes? Every parent loved their children, right? No matter what kind of mistakes the children made, there should be a fragment of love that still remains in the parents, right?

It should be like that.

_Have you no love for us, Grandpa?_

Mikoto never got her answer.

All she got from him were lessons on how to be a good and calm elder for her future children.

_“We’re the clan of fire, but remember to never allow the fire of our heart to consume us.”_

That was one of the lesson that was drilled into her mind.

Sometimes Mikoto wondered if that was the reason Izuna has such a cold heart.

* * *

The world has a sick sense of humour.

Oh, how the world enjoyed toying with mortal’s life, turning everything upside down in such an unexpected way.

And mortals _changed_ to accommodate its whims.

Such a fascinating creature, a mortal is.

“Ah.”

This mortal, particularly.

Once a bitter enemy sworn by blood and pain, but now, a loyal brother sworn to a mission that was not even his to shoulder. Once a violent soul so driven for war—yet now was the one who yearned to end the war that bred him into the world.

“They got Miko involved.”

Cue the long-suffering sigh. The displeased scowl deepened, and she wondered if his sensory ability was still as good as how it was during his youth. She did sense the sudden appearance of fiery chakra in the general location of Ame—and judging from that burst of Hiraishin, the girl was brought here from Konoha no doubt. But, one should not compare her abilities to a mere mortal, let alone to compare her to a human that has withered so far down the decades of life.

Yet he was still able to sense his granddaughter's arrival, even from this distance.

**_Impressive._ **

How good was his sensory range? She knew that he was powerful once upon a time ago, but it has been decades since his prime. His brother wasn’t able to maintain the same ability as he aged—the peace and quiet life as an isolated hermit has dulled his senses considerably.

But then again, Madara was at peace, raising his remaining child in pure secrecy and safety from the warring world.

Izuna wasn’t.

Uchiha Izuna was never at peace.

The war never left him. 

“And I had high hopes on Fugaku to stop her from being reckless too.”

The complaint was followed by a soft groan. It was the first time she has witnessed him showing the genuine human behind all those ices. All those times watching him while she was a free soul wandering into Konoha to keep her human company, and this short year since she was liberated from her captors—the only conclusion that she could draw about him was that of his ice-cold persona.

Cold. Unyielding.

“Seriously, these kids…”

Unforgiving.

“We already have too many traitors in the family.”

This time, she did snort a silent laugh upon the irony of that quiet complaint.

“Ironic to hear that coming from you,” she purred, teasingly.

Her teasing was returned with another scowl.

“We do not need any more traitors,” the retort came in an exasperated huff.

Once an unyielding leader hell-bent on protecting the village, regardless of what it cost him. He has fought, bled, killed and gave up his own heart to the war—for the village his brothers created and shaped.

“Madara and I are enough to fill up the traitor quota of the clan.”

Yet now he’s a traitor with set goals to deep cleanse Konoha, pulling strings and dirtying his own hands to push the future of the village—his granddaughter included—to turn their backs against the village and his fellow elders.

He sacrificed the village he has been protecting for the past fifty-five years with the hope that it will be reincarnated as a better one. 

All those efforts, all the pain and heartache he dismissed—all of it went down the drain for the sake of a better village in the future.

It wasn’t easy for a person of his calibre to swallow that massive ego and admitted his own mistakes.

Such fascinating little creatures humanity are.

Matatabi no Neko huffed a quiet laugh.

She wondered if Tobirama’s little great-grandson would ever know how he has single-handedly changed the path of the most stubborn and unyielding Uchiha in the world.

One little complaint was all that it took—just a child’s inane lament on how weird the clan has been treating him ever since his grandmother passed away—and Izuna _changed_.

But then again, Tsubame has always been Izuna’s favourite, the little defiant fire that child was.

Despite the many omegas and betas he bedded, despite the numbers of children that were produced from all those clan-arranged affairs, it was his niece that Uchiha Izuna devoted his affection to.

Safe behind the protective barriers that hid Madara’s little home from the world, Izuna warmed up to little Tsubame.

Matatabi noticed those fond little interactions between the uncle and niece even before she was captured, and it seemed that was the only thing about the Uchiha that hasn’t changed in the decades of her imprisonment.

Izuna’s fondness to his niece was amusing.

The little girl understood him, when not even Madara—his own brother—could fathom the nature that Izuna has chosen to embrace.

Human’s bias at its finest, but it was only natural for Izuna to pay attention to the struggles of Tsubame’s grandson than those of his own children and grandchildren. After all, Tsubame understood him, has struggled with similar things as he had, and has raised Obito with that habit of non-judgemental acceptance. It enforced a strange bond between the two, creating a kind of loyalty that Izuna didn't bestow to anyone else. It caused for that branch of affection he has for Tsubame to extend to Obito too, even after Tsubame's passing.

Despite the burden of having to shoulder Hashirama’s trust and Tobirama’s mission, Izuna was still able to extend a listening ear to the boy, pulling whatever strings he still has to keep Tsubame’s grandson away from the arrangements that the clan was trying to push.

Izuna himself knew how that arrangement works, has been subjected to it even when he was the Clan Head, thus Matatabi genuinely adored his dedications to keep Obito away from the exact same situation.

Such dedication, even after the passing of the niece that he loved so dearly.

Fascinating. Humanity is so fascinating and unpredictable.

Matatabi chuckled, deeply amused.

“Aren’t you cold?” he snapped in her direction, scowling as if she has deeply displeased him.

Once a cold, heartless man. 

“That body is _human_ and young, you know?”

Now, such an overprotective guardian.

She snorted, turning her head towards him, slightly preening at the way her blonde hair bounced to the movement. She missed her flaming blue fur of course, but these silky golden tresses weren’t nearly as bad as she expected it would be. Sitting on the cold ground seemed to annoy him even further, thus naturally, she did that very thing.

“Didn’t know that you care, Uchiha,” she purred, stretching her small body over the cool grass, purposely ignoring the bedroll he has spread for her.

He huffed.

A second later, she flailed as the thick reinforced fabric of Konoha’s military-grade coat engulfed her small body whole.

"Go to sleep," came the sharp order afterwards. "That body needs a healthy sleep schedule."

She didn’t bother to tease him this time. Instead, she slinked into the warmth of the coat, purring as she did so. He was right after all. This body was young and impossibly human—so fragile and breakable it was unreal.

Not that the death of this body would mean anything to her, considering that the death of this little kitten would mean the freedom that has been taken from her decades ago.

**_But he loves children._ **

Once an uncaring beast.

**_Tobirama loves kids._ **

Now a loving friend.

**_So, I’m going to keep your life intact, kitten._ **

The campfire crackled in front of her, blue, just as her own flame once upon lost freedom ago. It burnt brightly, feeding off the dismembered remains of the White Zetsu that have been foolish enough to cross Izuna’s path. Lulled by the alluring flickers of the fire, Matatabi's guard weakened, allowing the little spark of human consciousness she has subdued a year ago to stir within her.

Matatabi instantly hushed the kitten back to sleep.

It was still too dangerous for her young jinchuuriki to face the warring world.

Yugito was far too young right now.

Too young to fight. Too fragile for this war. Too weak to face their current enemies—the will and servants of the Moon Goddess. Too young to be burdened with the power of Matatabi no Neko.

Too innocent to realise the betrayal of her own village.

 ** _“Rest, little kitten,”_** she purred to the stirring consciousness inside her.

Once an ignorant superior—a majestic cat demon who cared not of the humans she has to share this world with.

**_“Lend me your body.”_ **

The consciousness protested, albeit too feebly.

 ** _“Lend me your body,”_** she hushed the kitten again. “ ** _Let me end the fight that we started.”_**

Once an ignorant superior.

**_“And I shall wake you up once peace embraced us.”_ **

Now, a humbled living being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have gone and read the handbook I created, you will probably know exactly what dynamic Obito's grandmother was (LMAO, she is an Alpha Female). And if you remember the lore of this universe, I have mentioned that they addressed the person who birth them as 'Mother' and the one who sired them as 'Father'.
> 
> Obito's grandmother is an alpha married to an omega male that is born from beta parents (hence the reason everyone assumed that Tsubame marries an unknown civilian). She is an alpha, yet we see her being addressed as 'grandmother' instead of 'grandfather'. 
> 
> That should be enough of a hint to explain the reason Izuna loved her so much. He struggled with similar things, although not about his identity but rather with who he wanted to bed.
> 
>  _*cough*_ Touka _*cough *_ is _*cough *_ an alpha _*cough cough*_
> 
> Also, before you ask how exactly an omega male can be born from beta parents, go to the handbook, find Chapter 4 and scroll down until you see it under the subtopic Beta Female+Beta Male. 
> 
> Annnnddd, Mikoto also is a child birthed from Omega Male mother and Alpha Female father. Her father was the first one in the clan who swallowed her ego and asked for the annexed slave family for her mate's hand in marriage. Weirdly enough, Izuna immediately named her as his Clan Heir right after the news of the proposal reached him. 
> 
> Prior to this union, the annexed family only carry the name Uchiha but does not carry any of the Uchiha blood. Before Madara's rule as Clan Head, this family has a lot of abortions happening for some unknown reason *cough cough* 
> 
> Let me know if you want me to include the explanation for this kind of politic in the handbook too.


End file.
